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Investigating neuromodulatory effect of transauricular vagus nerve stimulation on resting-state electroencephalography

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Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuromodulatory effects of transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) and determine optimal taVNS duration to induce the meaningful neuromodulatroty effects using resting-state electroencephalography (EEG). Method: Fifteen participants participated in this study and taVNS was applied to the cymba conchae for a duration of 40 min. Resting-state EEG was measured before and during taVNS application. EEG power spectral density (PSD) and brain network indices (clustering coefficient and path length) were calculated across five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma), respectively, to assess the neuromodulatory effect of taVNS. Moreover, we divided the whole brain region into the five regions of interest (frontal, central, left temporal, right temporal, and occipital) to confirm the neuromodulation effect on each specific brain region. Result: Our results demonstrated a significant increase in EEG frequency powers across all five frequency bands during taVNS. Furthermore, significant changes in network indices were observed in the theta and gamma bands compared to the pre-taVNS measurements. These effects were particularly pronounced after approximately 10 min of stimulation, with a more dominant impact observed after approximately 20–30 min of taVNS application. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that taVNS can effectively modulate the brain activity, thereby exerting significant effects on brain characteristics. Moreover, taVNS duration of approximately 20–30 min was considered appropriate for inducing a stable and efficient neuromodulatory effects. Consequently, these findings have the potential to contribute to research aimed at enhancing cognitive and motor functions through the modulation of EEG using taVNS.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Education (No. 2019R1I1A3A01060732), the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (No. IITP-2024-RS-2023-00258971), and the Neurive Co., Ltd (Q2129191).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yun-Sung Lee and Woo-** Kim contributed equally to this study and preparation of manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Information, Korea University, Sejong, 30019, Republic of Korea

    Yun-Sung Lee, Woo-** Kim & Han-Jeong Hwang

  2. Interdisciplinary Graduate Program for Artificial Intelligence Smart Convergence Technology, Korea University, Sejong, Republic of Korea

    Yun-Sung Lee, Woo-** Kim & Han-Jeong Hwang

  3. Department of Artificial Intelligence, Tech University of Korea, Siheung, Republic of Korea

    Miseon Shim

  4. Neurive Co., Ltd, Gimhae, 50969, Republic of Korea

    Ki Hwan Hong, Hyuk Choi & Jae-Jun Song

  5. Department of Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, 028411, Republic of Korea

    Hyuk Choi

  6. Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, 08308, Republic of Korea

    Jae-Jun Song

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Contributions

All authors designed the initial study. Analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript by [Yun-Sung Lee] and [Woo-** Kim]. Wrote the manuscript by [Miseon Shim], [Hyuk Choi], and [Jae-Jun Song]. Provided the study instrumentation by [Ki Hwan Hong], [Hyuk Choi] and [Jae-Jun Song]. Supervised data analysis, and revised the manuscript by [Han-Jeong Hwang]. All authors had full access to all data in the study and responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Han-Jeong Hwang.

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The protocol of this study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Korea University (KUIRB-2022-0077-01).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Lee, YS., Kim, WJ., Shim, M. et al. Investigating neuromodulatory effect of transauricular vagus nerve stimulation on resting-state electroencephalography. Biomed. Eng. Lett. 14, 677–687 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13534-024-00361-8

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