Vagus somatosensory evoked potentials are delayed in Alzheimer’s disease, but not in major depression

Polak, Thomas; Dresler, Thomas; Zeller, Julia; Warrings, Bodo; Scheuerpflug, P.; Fallgatter, Andreas J.; Deckert, Jürgen; Metzger, Florian

doi:10.1007/s00406-013-0415-2

Cited by 19 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Subsequent work focused on VSEP latencies, as prolonged latencies may be indicative of a reduced myelination of the vagus nerve and a concomitant reduced conduction velocity of the nerve fibers. Prolonged latencies of the VSEPs after tVNS have been documented in elderly (Fallgatter et al, 2005) and people suffering from mild cognitive impairments and Alzheimer's disease (Polak et al, 2014(Polak et al, , 2007, but not in people with vascular dementia (Polak et al, 2009), Parkinson's disease (Weise et al, 2015) or major depression (Polak et al, 2014). Yet, it is not always the full spectrum of P1-N1-P2 potentials that is delayed after tVNS.…”

Section: Somatosensory Evoked Potentialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving beyond belief: A narrative review of potential biomarkers for transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation

et al. 2020

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Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation or tVNS is a non-invasive neurostimulation technique that is currently being tested as a potential treatment for a myriad of neurological and psychiatric disorders.However, the working mechanisms underlying tVNS are poorly understood, and it remains unclear whether stimulation activates the vagus nerve for every participant. Finding a biological marker of tVNS is imperative, as it can help guide research on clinical applications, and can inform researchers on optimal stimulation sites and parameters to further optimize treatment efficacy. In this narrative review, we discuss five potential biomarkers for tVNS, and review currently available evidence for these markers for both invasive and transcutaneous VNS. While some of these biomarkers hold promise from a theoretical perspective, none of the potential biomarkers provide clear and definitive indications that tVNS increases vagal activity or augments activity in the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline network. We conclude the review by providing several recommendations for how to tackle the challenges and opportunities when researching potential biomarkers for the effects of tVNS.

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Section: Somatosensory Evoked Potentialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving beyond belief: A narrative review of potential biomarkers for transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation

et al. 2020

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“…The authors planned in the original studies to match patients and controls by age; however, it did not happen. 19-26 In fact, some of them stated that the age of patients and controls was “significantly different.” 19 We also found that studies reporting significant differences on the VSEP data between patients and their controls had a higher number of items scored as “yes” ( P < .039). The majority of “not” or points lost were in the design of the study, sample size justification, reliable and valid outcome measures, correct electrophysiological analysis of findings, dropout information, and appropriateness of conclusions (Table 2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Vagus Nerve Somatosensory-evoked Potential in Neural Disorders: Systematic Review and Illustrative Vignettes

et al. 2021

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Objective. To review the scientific publications reporting vagal nerve somatosensory-evoked potential (VSEP) findings from individuals with brain disorders, and present novel physiological explanations on the VSEP origin. Methods. We did a systematic review on the papers reporting VSEP findings from individuals with brain disorders and their controls. We evaluated papers published from 2003 to date indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scielo databases. We extracted the following information: number of patients and controls, type of neural disorder, age, gender, stimulating/recording and grounding electrodes as well as stimulus side, intensity, duration, frequency, and polarity. Information about physiological parameters, neurobiological variables, and correlation studies was also reviewed. Representative vignettes were included to add support to our conclusions. Results. The VSEP was studied in 297 patients with neural disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mild cognitive impairment, subjective memory impairment, major depression, and multiple sclerosis. Scalp responses marked as the VSEP showed high variability, low validity, and poor reproducibility. VSEP latencies and amplitudes did not correlate with disease duration, unified PD rating scale score, or heart function in PD patients nor with cerebrospinal fluid β amyloid, phosphor-τ, and cognitive tests from patients with mental disorders. Vignettes demonstrated that the VSEP was volume conduction propagating from muscles surrounding the scalp recording electrodes. Conclusion. The VSEP is not a brain-evoked potential of neural origin but muscle activity induced by electrical stimulation of the tragus region of the ear. This review and illustrative vignettes argue against assessing the parasympathetic system using the so-called VSEP.

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“…ERPs have been largely applied for scientific purpose in cognitive neuroscience but also in clinical application (Niedermeyer and Lopes da Silva, 2005, Kurt et al, 2014, Polak et al, 2014). An excellent example of this are the olfactory ERPs now widely used for assessment of olfactory functions, e.g.…”

Section: Q6mentioning

confidence: 99%

A gustatory stimulator

Iannilli

Beger

Fürer

et al. 2015

Journal of Neuroscience Methods

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Vagus somatosensory evoked potentials are delayed in Alzheimer’s disease, but not in major depression

Cited by 19 publications

References 22 publications

Moving beyond belief: A narrative review of potential biomarkers for transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation

Moving beyond belief: A narrative review of potential biomarkers for transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation

The Vagus Nerve Somatosensory-evoked Potential in Neural Disorders: Systematic Review and Illustrative Vignettes

A gustatory stimulator

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