Vagus Nerve Stimulation Explained! (VNS/tVNS) | Neuroscience Methods 101

In this video we explaine (transcutaneous) vagus nerve stimulation (VNS/tVNS).
The vagus nerve is one of the most crucial nerves of the parasympathetic nervous system. It is involved in contoling heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, digestion, hunger, thirst and much more. It also has been related to affective processing and dysfunction of the vagus nerve has been related to various psychiatric disorders, including depression.
Stimulation of the vagus nerve can be done with an implanted device, which is placed inside the chest and directly connects to the vagus nerve. It sends very brief pulses to the vagus nerve. Stimulation consists of several seconds of current pulses, followed by several minutes of no stimulation. Implanted VNS is FDA approved for epilepsy and depression.
Stimulation of the vagus nerve can also be achieved non-invasively via transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS). There are two kinds: One stimulates the vagus nerve through the neck, called transcutaneous cervical VNS (ctVNS / tcVNS). The other stimulates the vagus nerve via the auricular branch in the ear. This is known as transcutaneous auricular VNS (taVNS). These non-invasive ways are promising, but more research is required to find the optimal parameters.
References:
Thompson, S. L., O'Leary, G. H., Austelle, C. W., Gruber, E., Kahn, A. T., Manett, A. J., Short, B., & Badran, B. W. (2021). A Review of Parameter Settings for Invasive and Non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Applied in Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders. Frontiers in neuroscience, 15, 709436. doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.70...
Wheless, J. W., Gienapp, A. J., & Ryvlin, P. (2018). Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy update. Epilepsy & behavior : E&B, 88S, 2-10. doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2018....
Yap, J. Y. Y., Keatch, C., Lambert, E., Woods, W., Stoddart, P. R., & Kameneva, T. (2020). Critical Review of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Challenges for Translation to Clinical Practice. Frontiers in neuroscience, 14, 284. doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00284
Zhang, H., Guo, Z., Qu, Y., Zhao, Y., Yang, Y., Du, J., & Yang, C. (2022). Cognitive function and brain activation before and after transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation in healthy adults: A concurrent tcVNS-fMRI study. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 1003411. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.10...
Produced and narrated by: Miles Wischnewski
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[@chrisjames9008]

Very good summary of vagus nerve devices

[@ComeOnInTheWatersFine]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@user-qe1fn1lm2j]

Thank you for the clear explanation!

[@woolfy02]

Can you go into more detail about the reasons, why having problems with your Vagus Nerve, would cause dizziness? I have TRD and along with that, I deal with constant dizziness (I live off of like 8 motion sickness pills a day.) I'm very treatment resistant when it comes to AD meds but, when they did work, the dizziness was the first thing to go away. (As the meds stopped working, everything came back including the dizziness). All I can think is that maybe my mental issues, are causing me to be more dizzy in some way. Still not really sure how. I'm looking into getting into a clinical trial for VNS so, I hope that clears away the major depression and dizziness!

[@NickLopezz]

is the mechanism of action not known? how does the VNS correct the vagus nerve?

[@real.psyched]

Indeed, there are still a lot of unknowns about the mechanisms. What is known is that for certain conditions a hypoactivity of the vagus nerve has been observed. Thus, stimulating it can be helpful

[@NickLopezz]

@@real.psychedso in most vagus nerve related disorders the theory is that the vagus nerve is 'out of shape' or something like that? does trauma cause the vagus nerve to weaken? i just haven't really figured out if the problem is the vagus nerve is misfiring or if it's overactive or weak lol. specifically in dysautonomia.

[@real.psyched]

I mean, there are certainly more sophisticated ideas, depending on stimulation parameters. But I am no expert on that unfortunately.