Therapeutic applications of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation with potential for application in neurodevelopmental or other pediatric disorders

Zhu, Siyu; Zhang, Xiaolu; Zhou, Menghan; Kendrick, Keith M.; Zhao, Weihua

doi:10.3389/fendo.2022.1000758

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 188 publications

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“…In addition, transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has potential for the treatment of nervous system diseases. Although its mechanism of action is not fully understood, it has an obvious effect on activating the connection of the vagus nerve with the central and peripheral nervous system (Zhu et al., 2022). There is increasing evidence that tVNS can activate brain regions associated with ASD, trigger neuroimmune regulation, and have a therapeutic effect on the complications of ASD, such as epilepsy and depression (Jin & Kong, 2017).…”

Section: Interventions For Asdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary nutrients that potentially mitigate autism spectrum disorder and dietary recommendations for children and pregnant women

Li,

Kong,

Tian

et al. 2024

Food Frontiers

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The increasing incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) worldwide poses serious social and family problems. Various risk factors for ASD are gradually being recognized, and there are also various options for the treatment of ASD. It is worth noting that dietary interventions have been shown to have a positive effect in terms of mitigating and preventing some psychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and ASD, and they are gradually receiving attention as a safe adjuvant treatment. In this review, based on the current understanding of the pathogenic factors and intervention strategies for ASD, different dietary patterns that can be selected for children with ASD are discussed in depth. Moreover, a review was conducted on the use of dietary factors, such as natural products from food sources, prebiotics, and probiotics, as effective supplements to existing dietary patterns. As increasing evidence shows that maternal risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, are associated with an increased risk of ASD in offspring, dietary suggestions are also made for pregnant woman with ASD‐related risk factors to counteract the impact of these risk factors. With compensation from food‐derived natural products, prebiotics, and probiotics, suitable dietary patterns can further enhance the effectiveness of dietary interventions for ASD. In addition, dietary recommendations for pregnant woman may reduce the potential impact of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension and may help to prevent the occurrence of ASD to the maximum extent possible.

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Section: Interventions For Asdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary nutrients that potentially mitigate autism spectrum disorder and dietary recommendations for children and pregnant women

Li,

Kong,

Tian

et al. 2024

Food Frontiers

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show abstract

“…In addition, the potential application of a non-invasive neurostimulation technique, transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), is of interest to treat neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adolescents. It has been shown that by targeting stimulation sites and parameters, taVNS has modulatory effects on cortical and subcortical brain regions associated with the neuropathology of ADHD, DBD, ASD and OCD, etc., further helping regulate some impaired social-emotional functions that are impaired in them [ 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 ]. This technique has an extensive potential application for reducing functional impairment in the tertiary prevention phase of pediatric OCD and deserves to be studied on a larger scale in the pediatric population.…”

Section: Primary Secondary and Tertiary Prevention Of Pediatric Ocdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Identification and Intervention in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Liu

Fan

2023

Brain Sciences

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by persistent thoughts with subsequent repetitive behaviors. Interventions that are effective for adult OCD cannot simply be generalized to pediatric OCD, since OCD in children and adolescents usually has a different clinical presentation, etiology and course from adult OCD. Delayed and inadequate treatment is associated with a worse prognosis, making the need for early identification and intervention in pediatric OCD very urgent. In this paper, we reflected on the current constraints that make early interventions for pediatric OCD unpromoted and reviewed the approaches with potential application for early identification and early intervention in pediatric OCD, categorized by three-level prevention stages corresponding to a clinical staging model. Since the etiology of pediatric OCD is still unclear, primary prevention is most lacking, and early interventions for pediatric OCD are currently focused on the secondary prevention stage, which aims to prevent the conversion of obsessive-compulsive symptoms into full-blown OCD; tertiary prevention mostly focuses on the alleviation of mild to moderate OCD, while interventions for co-morbidities are still in their infancy. We closed by considering the important research questions on this topic.

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“…24 Accordingly, non-invasive transcutaneous auricular VNS (taVNS) has been proposed to treat mental illness and neurodevelopmental disorders. 25,26,27 Previously, we found that taVNS greatly altered Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores and default-mode brain network connectivity in depressed patients. 28,29 Also, taVNS produced brain activity changes through the ABVN pathway in those patients, showing great potential as an effective and safe neuromodulation alternative treatment for mild and moderate depressive disorder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following extensive peripheral projection, the afferent fibers of the ABVN transmit information to the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), which subsequently projects directly or indirectly to various brain regions, including the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), locus coeruleus (LC), hippocampus (HIP), hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex (PFC), etc 24 . Accordingly, non‐invasive transcutaneous auricular VNS (taVNS) has been proposed to treat mental illness and neurodevelopmental disorders 25,26,27 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation ameliorates adolescent depressive‐ and anxiety‐like behaviors via hippocampus glycolysis and inflammation response

Sun,

Ma,

et al. 2024

CNS Neurosci Ther

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BackgroundTranscutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a crucial neuromodulation therapy for depression, yet its molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, we aim to unveil the underlying mechanisms of antidepression by systematically evaluating the change of gene expression in different brain regions (i.e., hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, and medial prefrontal cortex).MethodsThe adolescent depression rat model was established by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), followed by the taVNS treatment for 3 weeks. The open field test (OFT), forced swimming test (FST), elevated plus maze test (EPM), and new object recognition (NOR) test were used to evaluate depressive‐ and anxiety‐like behaviors. Gene expression analysis of three brain regions was conducted by RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq) and further bioinformatics methods.ResultsThe depressive‐ and anxiety‐like behaviors in CUMS‐exposed rats were manifested by decreased spontaneous locomotor activity of OFT, increased immobility time of FST, increased entries and time in the closed arms of EPM, and decreased new object index of NOR. Furthermore, CUMS exposure also led to alterations in gene expression within the hippocampus (HIP), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), suggesting a potential link between adolescent stress and pathological changes within these brain regions. TaVNS could significantly ameliorate depressive‐ and anxiety‐like behaviors. Its effects on these three brain regions were found related to regulation of the metabolism, and there were some brain region‐specific findings. Compared with ACC and mPFC, taVNS has a more concrete effect on HIP by regulating the inflammation response and glycolysis.ConclusiontaVNS is capable of ameliorating adolescent depressive‐ and anxiety‐like behaviors by regulating plenty of genes in the three brain regions. Suppressed level of inflammatory response and enhanced glycolysis manifests the dominant role of taVNS in HIP, which provides a theoretical foundation and data support for the molecular mechanism of antidepression by taVNS.

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Therapeutic applications of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation with potential for application in neurodevelopmental or other pediatric disorders

Cited by 16 publications

References 188 publications

Dietary nutrients that potentially mitigate autism spectrum disorder and dietary recommendations for children and pregnant women

Dietary nutrients that potentially mitigate autism spectrum disorder and dietary recommendations for children and pregnant women

Early Identification and Intervention in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation ameliorates adolescent depressive‐ and anxiety‐like behaviors via hippocampus glycolysis and inflammation response

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