Body of Research

Our metabolic functions (e.g. organs, glands, involuntary muscles) are influenced by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) via sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions. The vagus nerve, the 10th longest of the cranial nerves, is a major component of the parasympathetic nervous system and serves to maintain homeostasis providing bidirectional communication between the body and brain.  The neuroatanomy of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) offers insight for an understanding of the ef...

The only place on the body where the vagus nerve (VN) sends its only peripheral branch is on the outer ear. The auricle is where this VN branch surfaces to form a cutaneous receptive field in the pinna of the ear — an area responsive to peripheral nerve stimulation. Thus, the auricle allows for easy access for auricular (and transcutaneous auricular) vagus nerve stimulation (aVNS/taVNS), that relays the stimuli to the brainstem and higher brain regions via extensive projections to second and...

Bioelectronic medicine progressively comes into focus as offering a non-pharmaceutical treatment option for various diseases. Here neuromodulation of the vagus nerve (VN) has gained a special interest. In a comprehensive review technical issues, modeling concepts, regulatory and safety requirements, and novel architectures of open and closed-loop aVNS paradigms, Kaniusas and his colleagues focus on the physiological role of VN including a biology-driven rationale for Auricular Vagus Nerve Sti...

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been shown to enhance extinction of conditioned fear in rats. Previous findings support this finding. It is hypothesized that this is the result of enhanced consolidation of extinction memories through the promotion of plasticity in related neural pathways. There are other explanations as well. The work supports rapidly expanding research into VNS, both invasive VNS and transcutaneous VNS (which is most often applied at the ear, e.g. transcutaneous auricular ...

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an adjunctive neuromodulation therapy that was approved in 1997 for the alleviation of seizures; however, efforts to control epilepsy by stimulating the vagus nerve have been studied for over 100 years. The ability for VNS to affect various brain areas, has a wide indication for various intractable epileptic syndromes and epilepsyrelated comorbidities. Moreover, recent studies have shown anti-inflammatory effects of VNS, and the indication is expanding beyond ...

Badran et. al. provide commentary on the growing interest in modulating the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN). Researchers clearly want to know which ear target is optimal for taVNS e tragus or cymba conchae. Although the authors note discrepancies — identified by Burger and Verkuil in the investigation of a manuscript by Peuker and Filler describing vagus innervation of the ear — that they have found difficult to resolve, their commentary offers insights.[1] First, recognizing the i...

In a review of TNS, tVNS and Auricular Stimulation, Benjamina Mercante (and her colleagues Franca Deriu, and Claire-Marie Rangon) present possible sites and mechanisms of action in the Central Nervous System. The paper suggests that with the continuous advancement since the auricular maps of physician Paul Nogier, the field of advanced non-invasive neuromodulation via the ear, due to the innervation by the cervical plexus, may become the most affordable, accurate and powerful gateway to the b...

Since prior studies of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have had inconsistent findings (owing to variability in stimulation targets and parameters), the authors undertook to develop a transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS)/functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) system enabling the comparison of taVNS in relation to control stimulation through concurrent electrical stimulation and fMRI acquisit...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a result of chronic stress that mobilizes  the autonomic nervous system, and may be reflected by chronic disinhibition of limbic structures. Mild traumatic brain injury commonly precedes PTSD in populations such as veterans, owing to the vulnerability of white matter in these networks. Such damage may affect response to treatment of PTSD. The authors evaluated transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS or taVNS), a non-invasive, low-risk neuro-auricul...

The author suggests that pathological neural activity could be treated by directing specific plasticity to renormalize circuits and restore function. Rehabilitative therapies aimed to promote adaptive circuit changes after neurological disease or injury, are often prevented in supporting full recovery owing to insufficient or maladaptive plasticity. Adjunctive strategies that broadly support plasticity to facilitate rehabilitative interventions have the potential to improve treatment in a wid...

Since the early part of the 20th century, electro therapy has been used to treat severe depression. With the advance of new devices — e.g. low-level current for neuronal stimulation via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and vagus as well as transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (VNS and tVNS) — the study and treatment of cognitive function in patients with epilepsy and major depression has had significant advance from early “shock therap...

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a Food and Drug Administration approved somatic treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy and depression. In vivo VNS systems, however, are an option limited to patients who have failed to respond to multiple treatment options. Transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) is a non-invasive method based on afferent/efferent vagus nerve distribution on the surface of the ear. The safe and low-cost characteristics of tVNS have the potential to significantly expand the clinical applicat...