Systematic review and meta-analysis of vagus nerve stimulation in the treatment of depression: Variable results based on study designs

Abstract

Currently, insufficient data are available to describe VNS as effective in the treatment of depression. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that the positive results observed in the uncontrolled studies might have been mainly due to a placebo effect.

Combining electroencephalographic activity and instantaneous heart rate for assessing brain–heart dynamics during visual emotional elicitation in healthy subjects

“…Dysfunctions of the ANS were found in acute and chronic stressful conditions [10][11][12], insomnia [13,14], epilepsy [15,16], parkinsonisms [17,18], psychosomatic disorders [19] and schizophrenia, anxiety and mood disorders [6,[20][21][22][23][24], which are typically considered CNS-related conditions. Moreover, vagal nerve stimulation has been shown as an effective treatment for major depression [25,26], while relaxation techniques based on cardio-feedback are used for managing negative emotions and psychological symptoms [27,28].…”

Calibration of Thresholds for Functional Engagement of Vagal A, B and C Fiber Groups In Vivo

“…Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) has been introduced or tested as a therapy for a range of disorders including epilepsy [1], cardiac arrhythmia [2], heart failure [3], depression [4], inflammatory bowel disease [5], rheumatoid arthritis [6] and obesity [7]. In the case of obesity, the vagal stimulation was designed to block the passage of afferent action potentials.…”

Neuromodulation Approaches for the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Stimulating the Brain Following Exposure-based Therapy

“…Among these, deep-brain stimulation (DBS) has been the most documented especially for its use in treating obsessivecompulsive disorder and depression [6][7][8][9][10]. Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have also gained popularity, notably for the treatment of refractory depression [11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. More recently, various studies have shown that these stimulation techniques could also be used for the treatment of fear-related disorders, such as PTSD [18•].…”