Hitting the right nerve: effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on symptoms of anxiety
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Abstract: he overarching goal of this\ndissertation was to assess whether transcutaneous vagus nerve\nstimulation (tVNS) has beneficial effects over sham stimulation in laboratory\nmodels of anxiety.\nSpecifically, in Part I, the effects of tVNS were tested in a fear conditioning\nparadigm to test the utility\nof tVNS as an add-on treatment for exposure therapy. In Part II, the effects of\ntVNS as a stand-alone\ntreatment for one of the core symptoms of anxiety – perseverative cognition –\nwas tested within the\nexperimental framework of a Breathing Focus task. Part III deals with working\nmechanisms: what is\nthe optimal site of the ear to stimulate the auricular branch of the vagus\nnerve (ABVN) and what is the\nhypothesized working mechanism underlying the anxiolytic effects of tVNS?\nSpecifically, the effects of\ntVNS on both physiological as well as behavioral indices of locus coeruleus –\nnoradrenaline (LC-NA)\nnetwork activity were tested.
Author: Andreas M. Burger
Language: English
Subfield: Neurology
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G616156975
OpenAlex ID: W3122034189