ArticleNature communications2026
Auricular vagus nerve stimulation drives analgesia via an auricle-brain axis in a mouse model of neuropathic pain.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on postoperative pain in patients undergoing thoracoscopic partial lung resection: a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial.Annals of medicine · 2026Trial
- A Brainstem Pathway for Vagal Analgesia: A Critical Role of Local Inhibition in the cNTS.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Research Progress of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Chronic Pain Management: A Narrative Review.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Despite its long-recognized effects in relieving pain, the neural substrates of auricular stimulation remain elusive. Here, we show that trans-auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), i.e., electrical stimulation of the auricular concha, effectively induces analgesia in a mouse model of neuropathic pain. Viral tracing, microendoscopic calcium imaging, and multi-electrode recordings reveal that auricular vagal signals travel to the jugular-nodose ganglia (JNG), which in turn connect to pro-opiomelanocortinergic neurons in nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), subsequently activating glutamatergic neurons in ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG). Optogenetic stimulation of central vagus terminals, JNG-derived auricular peripheral fibers, or vlPAG-projecting NTS neurons mimics taVNS-induced analgesia, whereas chemogenetic silencing of central vagus terminals or NTS neurons abolishes this effect. This study identifies an auricle-to-brain circuit underlying taVNS-driven analgesia in mice, with potential for facilitating taVNS optimization for pain management and other neurological conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.