Vagus nerve stimulation increases vigor to work for rewards

Neuser, Monja P.; Teckentrup, Vanessa; Kuehnel, A.; Hallschmid, Manfred; Walter, Martin; Kroemer, Nils B.

doi:10.1101/789982

Cited by 4 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(93 reference statements)

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“…For the reported analyses, we used the data of 81 participants (47 female, M age 162 25.3 years ± 3.8; M BMI = 23.0 kg/m 2 ± 2.95; 17.9 -30.9) from a study on the effects of 163 acute transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS; (Neuser et al, 2019). 164…”

Section: Participants 161mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each session started in the morning 265 between 7:00 am and 10:15 am and lasted about 2.5 h and participants came to the sessions after fasting overnight (not eating or drinking caloric beverages >8h prior to 267 session). Introductory questions and measurements, among them height and weight, 268 were taken as described by Neuser et al (2019). Participants subsequently selected 269 their preferred breakfast cereal.…”

Section: Experimental Procedures 261mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, updates on the perceived reward value may inform the anticipated 113 benefit of the effort (Kroemer et al, 2014). This is reflected in an increase in effort when 114 higher rewards are at stake (Neuser et al, 2019). Therefore, behavioral variability in 115 instrumental reward seeking may provide an effective means to study the latent 116 variability of value signals in the brain which may help better understand the waxing and 117 waning in food intake.…”

Section: Introduction 47mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All in all, variability in reward processing may provide valuable insight into regular 139 and disordered eating behavior. To test whether aberrant self-reported eating behavior 140 is mirrored in reward-related behavior, we used data from a study investigating the 141 effects of acute transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on motivation 142 (Neuser et al, 2019). We used this data because we collected two sessions with the 143 same procedure and anticipated no effects on trial-by-trial variability of the intervention.…”

Section: Introduction 47mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Points were exchanged for a cash payout and calories (in the 214 form of breakfast and a snack) at the end of the session. The exchange rate was set to 215 1 cent for every 5 money points, and 1 kcal for every 5 food points (Neuser et al, 2019). 216…”

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confidence: 99%

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Can’t decide how much to EAT? Effort variability for reward is associated with cognitive restraint

Ostende

Neuser

Teckentrup

et al. 2020

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Food intake is inherently variable and often characterized by episodical restraint or overeating (uncontrolled eating). Such heightened variability in intake has been associated with higher variability in the brain response to food reward, but it is an open issue whether comparable associations with elevated variability in reward seeking exist. Here, we assessed whether restraint and uncontrolled eating as markers of trait-like variability in eating are associated with higher intra-individual variability in reward seeking as captured by a cost-benefit paradigm. To test this hypothesis, 81 healthy, overnight-fasting participants (MBMI= 23.0 kg/m2 ± 2.95) completed an effort allocation task (EAT) twice. In the EAT, participants had to exert physical effort to earn monetary and food rewards and indicated levels of wanting through visual analog scales (VAS). As predicted, we found that greater trial-by-trial effort variability was associated with lower scores on cognitive restraint, rp(78) = −.28, p = .011 (controlled for average effort). In line with previous findings, higher wanting variability was associated with higher BMI, rp(78) = .25, p = .026 (controlled for average effort). Collectively, our results support the idea that higher variability in reward seeking is a potential risk factor for eating beyond homeostatic need. Since associations with variability measures of reward exceeded associations with average reward seeking, our findings may indicate that variability in the representation of the reward value could be a crucial aspect driving fluctuations in food intake.

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Section: Participants 161mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Procedures 261mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction 47mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction 47mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can’t decide how much to EAT? Effort variability for reward is associated with cognitive restraint

Ostende

Neuser

Teckentrup

et al. 2020

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No modulation of postprandial metabolism by transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: a cross-over study in 15 healthy men

Vosseler

Zhao

Fritsche

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Experimental evidence suggests a crucial role of the autonomic nervous system in whole body metabolism with major regulatory effects of the parasympathetic branch in postprandial adaptation. However, the relative contribution of this mechanism is still not fully clear in humans. We therefore compared the effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS, Cerbomed Nemos) with sham stimulation during an oral glucose tolerance test in a randomized, single-blind, cross-over design in 15 healthy lean men. Stimulation was performed for 150 min, 30 min before and during the entire oral glucose tolerance test with stimulation cycles of 30 s of on-phase and 30 s of off-phase and a 25 Hz impulse. Heart rate variability and plasma catecholamine levels were assessed as proxies of autonomic tone in the periphery. Neither analyzed heart rate variability parameters nor plasma catecholamine levels were significantly different between the two conditions. Plasma glucose, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion were also comparable between conditions. Thus, the applied taVNS device or protocol was unable to achieve significant effects on autonomic innervation in peripheral organs. Accordingly, glucose metabolism remained unaltered. Therefore, alternative approaches are necessary to investigate the importance of the autonomic nervous system in postprandial human metabolism.

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Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation conditions increased invigoration and wanting in depression

Ferstl,

Kühnel,

Klaus

et al. 2023

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BackgroundMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is often marked by impaired motivation and reward processing, known as anhedonia. Many patients do not respond to first-line treatments, and improvements in motivation can be slow, creating an urgent need for rapid interventions. Recently, we demonstrated that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) acutely boosts effort invigoration in healthy participants, but its effects on depression remain unclear.ObjectiveTo assess the impact of taVNS on effort invigoration and maintenance in a sample that includes patients with MDD, evaluating the generalizability of our findings.MethodsWe used a single-blind, randomized crossover design in 30 patients with MDD and 29 matched (age, sex, and BMI) healthy control participants (HCP).ResultsConsistent with prior findings, taVNS increased effort invigoration for rewards in both groups during Session 1 (p=.040), particularly for less wanted rewards in HCP (pboot<.001). However, invigoration remained elevated in all participants, and no acute changes were observed in Session 2 (Δinvigoration=3.52,p=.093). Crucially, throughout Session 1, we found taVNS-induced increases in effort invigoration (pboot=.008) and wanting (pboot=.010) in patients with MDD, with gains in wanting maintained across sessions (Δwanting=0.06,p=.97).ConclusionsOur study replicates the invigorating effects of taVNS in Session 1 and reveals its generalizability to depression. Furthermore, we expand upon previous research by showing taVNS-induced conditioning effects on invigoration and wanting within Session 1 in patients that were largely sustained. While enduring motivational improvements present challenges for crossover designs, they are highly desirable in interventions and warrant further follow-up research.Graphical abstract

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Vagus nerve stimulation increases vigor to work for rewards

Cited by 4 publications

References 74 publications

Can’t decide how much to EAT? Effort variability for reward is associated with cognitive restraint

Can’t decide how much to EAT? Effort variability for reward is associated with cognitive restraint

No modulation of postprandial metabolism by transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: a cross-over study in 15 healthy men

Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation conditions increased invigoration and wanting in depression

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