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Ferstl M, Kühnel A, Klaus J, Lin WM, Kroemer NB. Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation conditions increased invigoration and wanting in depression. Compr Psychiatry 2024; 132:152488. [PMID: 38657358 DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder (MDD) is often marked by impaired motivation and reward processing, known as anhedonia. Many patients do not respond to first-line treatments, and improvements in motivation can be slow, creating an urgent need for rapid interventions. Recently, we demonstrated that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) acutely boosts effort invigoration in healthy participants, but its effects on depression remain unclear. OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of taVNS on effort invigoration and maintenance in a sample that includes patients with MDD, evaluating the generalizability of our findings. METHODS We used a single-blind, randomized crossover design in 30 patients with MDD and 29 matched (age, sex, and BMI) healthy control participants (HCP). RESULTS Consistent with prior findings, taVNS increased effort invigoration for rewards in both groups during Session 1 (p = .040), particularly for less wanted rewards in HCP (pboot < 0.001). However, invigoration remained elevated in all participants, and no acute changes were observed in Session 2 (Δinvigoration = 3.3, p = .12). Crucially, throughout Session 1, we found taVNS-induced increases in effort invigoration (pboot = 0.008) and wanting (pboot = 0.010) in patients with MDD, with gains in wanting maintained across sessions (Δwanting = 0.06, p = .97). CONCLUSIONS Our study replicates the invigorating effects of taVNS in Session 1 and reveals its generalizability to depression. Furthermore, we expand upon previous research by showing taVNS-induced conditioning effects on invigoration and wanting within Session 1 in patients that were largely sustained. While enduring motivational improvements present challenges for crossover designs, they are highly desirable in interventions and warrant further follow-up research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Ferstl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Anne Kühnel
- Section of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Johannes Klaus
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Wy Ming Lin
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Hector Research Institute for Education Science and Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nils B Kroemer
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Section of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Germany.
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Doerr JM, Juenemann M, Hakel L, Schmidt L, Menzler K, Krause K, Linka L, Skoluda N, Nater UM, Knake S. Effect of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on stress-reactive neuroendocrine measures in a sample of persons with temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsia Open 2023; 8:1013-1020. [PMID: 37310988 PMCID: PMC10472404 DOI: 10.1002/epi4.12774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Dysregulation of stress-reactive neuroendocrine measures, as well as subjective stress, have been found to worsen epilepsy. Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a relatively new treatment option for epilepsy. We were interested in its effect on the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system (ANS) as well as subjective stress and tiredness in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS Twenty patients (age 44 ± 11 years, 13 women) were enrolled in the study. They were free of seizures for more than 1 year. All took part in two sessions with 4 h of stimulation (tVNS vs. sham) in a randomized order. Saliva samples and subjective stress and tiredness levels were measured at five time points each session (before and after stimulation and three time points every hour in between). Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance as well as paired t-tests. RESULTS There was a dampened salivary cortisol (sCort) decrease during tVNS (time × condition effect: F[2.38, 38.15] = 6.50, P = 0.002, partial η2 = 0.29). Furthermore, we detected a dampened increase in salivary flow rate during tVNS (time × condition effect: F[3.28, 55.67] = 2.82, P = 0.043, partial η2 = 0.14). There was neither a difference in overall sCort or salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) levels nor in subjective stress or tiredness levels between conditions. sAA levels at the last measurement point were slightly higher during tVNS (t(19) = 2.26, P = 0.035, d = 0.51), but this effect failed to reach significance when controlled for multiple comparisons. SIGNIFICANCE Our results partially support that tVNS influences the regulation of stress-reactive neuroendocrine systems (namely the HPA axis and ANS) in epilepsy. More research with larger samples is needed on the difference between short-term and repeated long-term stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna M. Doerr
- Department of NeurologyUniversity Hospital Gießen and MarburgGießenGermany
| | - Martin Juenemann
- Department of NeurologyUniversity Hospital Gießen and MarburgGießenGermany
| | - Lukas Hakel
- Epilepsy Center Hessen, Department of NeurologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
| | - Laura Schmidt
- Epilepsy Center Hessen, Department of NeurologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
| | - Katja Menzler
- Epilepsy Center Hessen, Department of NeurologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
| | - Kristina Krause
- Epilepsy Center Hessen, Department of NeurologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
| | - Louise Linka
- Epilepsy Center Hessen, Department of NeurologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
| | - Nadine Skoluda
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of PsychologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Urs M. Nater
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of PsychologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Susanne Knake
- Epilepsy Center Hessen, Department of NeurologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB)Philipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
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Bowles S, Hickman J, Peng X, Williamson WR, Huang R, Washington K, Donegan D, Welle CG. Vagus nerve stimulation drives selective circuit modulation through cholinergic reinforcement. Neuron 2022; 110:2867-2885.e7. [PMID: 35858623 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a neuromodulation therapy for a broad and expanding set of neurologic conditions. However, the mechanism through which VNS influences central nervous system circuitry is not well described, limiting therapeutic optimization. VNS leads to widespread brain activation, but the effects on behavior are remarkably specific, indicating plasticity unique to behaviorally engaged neural circuits. To understand how VNS can lead to specific circuit modulation, we leveraged genetic tools including optogenetics and in vivo calcium imaging in mice learning a skilled reach task. We find that VNS enhances skilled motor learning in healthy animals via a cholinergic reinforcement mechanism, producing a rapid consolidation of an expert reach trajectory. In primary motor cortex (M1), VNS drives precise temporal modulation of neurons that respond to behavioral outcome. This suggests that VNS may accelerate motor refinement in M1 via cholinergic signaling, opening new avenues for optimizing VNS to target specific disease-relevant circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spencer Bowles
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Jordan Hickman
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Xiaoyu Peng
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - W Ryan Williamson
- IDEA Core, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Rongchen Huang
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Kayden Washington
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Dane Donegan
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Cristin G Welle
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
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Oehrn CR, Molitor L, Krause K, Niehaus H, Schmidt L, Hakel L, Timmermann L, Menzler K, Knake S, Weber I. Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation in epilepsy patients enhances cooperative behavior in the prisoner's dilemma task. Sci Rep 2022; 12:10255. [PMID: 35715460 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-14237-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The vagus nerve constitutes a key link between the autonomic and the central nervous system. Previous studies provide evidence for the impact of vagal activity on distinct cognitive processes including functions related to social cognition. Recent studies in animals and humans show that vagus nerve stimulation is associated with enhanced reward-seeking and dopamine-release in the brain. Social interaction recruits similar brain circuits to reward processing. We hypothesize that vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) boosts rewarding aspects of social behavior and compare the impact of transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) and sham stimulation on social interaction in 19 epilepsy patients in a double-blind pseudo-randomized study with cross-over design. Using a well-established paradigm, i.e., the prisoner’s dilemma, we investigate effects of stimulation on cooperative behavior, as well as interactions of stimulation effects with patient characteristics. A repeated-measures ANOVA and a linear mixed-effects model provide converging evidence that tVNS boosts cooperation. Post-hoc correlations reveal that this effect varies as a function of neuroticism, a personality trait linked to the dopaminergic system. Behavioral modeling indicates that tVNS induces a behavioral starting bias towards cooperation, which is independent of the decision process. This study provides evidence for the causal influence of vagus nerve activity on social interaction.
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Villani V, Finotti G, Di Lernia D, Tsakiris M, Azevedo RT. Event-related transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation modulates behaviour and pupillary responses during an auditory oddball task. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022; 140:105719. [PMID: 35334389 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a neuromodulatory technique that is thought to activate the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenaline (LC-NA) system. Standard taVNS protocols consist of the administration of intermittent or continuous stimulation over long periods. However, there is currently a limited understanding of the temporal dynamics of taVNS modulation of cognitive processes, as well as its mechanisms of action. We argue that novel stimulation approaches, informed by established theories of the LC-NA system, are needed to further our understanding of the neurocognitive underpinnings of taVNS. In this pre-registered study, we tested whether an "event-related" taVNS protocol can modulate the LC-NA system. In a within-subject design (single session) we delivered brief trains of taVNS (3 s) during an auditory oddball paradigm. The taVNS was time-locked to the target stimuli presentation and randomly interleaved with sham stimulation. Response times (RT) and stimuli-driven pupillary diameter (PD) were used as indices of LC-NA activity. Results revealed that active taVNS increased RT to targets, as compared to sham trials. Notably, in line with current theories of LC-NA functioning, taVNS modulation of target-related pupil dilation depended on pre-stimulation PD, an index of baseline LC-NA activity. In particular, active (vs. sham) taVNS was associated with smaller pupil dilation in trials where the baseline PD was small. These results demonstrate, for the first time, the effectiveness of brief event-related taVNS in the modulation of cognitive processes and highlight the importance of using pupil size as an index of tonic and phasic LC-NA activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerio Villani
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
| | - Gianluca Finotti
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
| | - Daniele Di Lernia
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX, United Kingdom; Humane Technology Lab, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano 20100, Italy
| | - Manos Tsakiris
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX, United Kingdom; Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Ruben T Azevedo
- Lab of Action and Body, Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP, United Kingdom.
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Johnson KVA, Steenbergen L. Gut feelings: vagal stimulation reduces emotional biases. Neuroscience 2022; 494:119-131. [PMID: 35550161 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.04.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/30/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The vagus nerve is a key physical constituent of the gut-brain axis. Increasing attention has recently been paid to the role that the gut, and the microorganisms inhabiting it, play in emotion and cognition. Animal studies have revealed the importance of the vagus nerve in mediating communication between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system, resulting in changes in emotional behaviour. This has renewed interest in understanding the role of vagal signalling in human emotion, particularly since human studies have also shown that alterations in gut microbiome composition can affect emotion. While stimulating the vagus nerve can help treat some cases of severe depression, here we investigate whether vagal afferent signalling can influence emotional processing in healthy subjects. We use the dot-probe task to determine the effect of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on attentional biases towards emotional stimuli in 42 volunteers. Participants received both active and sham treatments using a within-subject design. We show that transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation reduces the emotional bias towards faces expressing sadness and happiness, indicating a decrease in emotional reactivity. While our novel findings reveal the effect that vagal signalling can have on emotional biases in healthy subjects, future studies should seek to develop our understanding of the ways in which the microbiome interacts with, and stimulates, the vagus nerve. Since we find a reduction in emotional bias, most notably towards sadness, this may partly account for the effective use of vagus nerve stimulation in treatment-resistant depression. While its clinical application currently involves surgical stimulation, our results support the potential benefit of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation as a non-invasive, intermittent adjunctive therapy for patients with depression given its frequent association with emotional biases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina V A Johnson
- Leiden University, Institute of Psychology, Clinical Psychology Unit, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands.
| | - Laura Steenbergen
- Leiden University, Institute of Psychology, Clinical Psychology Unit, Leiden 2333 AK, The Netherlands
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Candia-Rivera D, Catrambone V, Barbieri R, Valenza G. Functional assessment of bidirectional cortical and peripheral neural control on heartbeat dynamics: a brain-heart study on thermal stress. Neuroimage 2022; 251:119023. [PMID: 35217203 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of functional brain-heart interplay (BHI) from non-invasive recordings has gained much interest in recent years. Previous endeavors aimed at understanding how the two dynamical systems exchange information, providing novel holistic biomarkers and important insights on essential cognitive aspects and neural system functioning. However, the interplay between cardiac sympathovagal and cortical oscillations still has much room for further investigation. In this study, we introduce a new computational framework for a functional BHI assessment, namely the Sympatho-Vagal Synthetic Data Generation Model, combining cortical (electroencephalography, EEG) and peripheral (cardiac sympathovagal) neural dynamics. The causal, bidirectional neural control on heartbeat dynamics was quantified on data gathered from 26 human volunteers undergoing a cold-pressor test. Results show that thermal stress induces heart-to-brain functional interplay sustained by EEG oscillations in the delta and gamma bands, primarily originating from sympathetic activity, whereas brain-to-heart interplay originates over central brain regions through sympathovagal control. The proposed methodology provides a viable computational tool for the functional assessment of the causal interplay between cortical and cardiac neural control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Candia-Rivera
- Bioengineering and Robotics Research Center E. Piaggio & Department of Information Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122, Pisa, Italy.
| | - Vincenzo Catrambone
- Bioengineering and Robotics Research Center E. Piaggio & Department of Information Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122, Pisa, Italy
| | - Riccardo Barbieri
- Department of Electronics, Informatics, and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133, Milano, Italy
| | - Gaetano Valenza
- Bioengineering and Robotics Research Center E. Piaggio & Department of Information Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122, Pisa, Italy
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