ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Behav. Neurosci.
Sec. Learning and Memory
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1555229
Vagus nerve stimulation ameliorates cognitive impairment caused by hypoxia
Provisionally accepted
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Dayton, United States
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Hypoxia significantly impairs cognitive functions due to the high oxygen demand of the brain. Emerging evidence suggests vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) induces cognitive enhancements but the effectiveness of VNS against behavioral performance and molecular impairments caused by hypoxia is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of VNS (100 μs biphasic pulses, 30 Hz, 0.8 mA) in mitigating behavioral performance deficits induced by hypoxia in healthy male rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: sham, hypoxia, and VNS + hypoxia. Cognition and performance were assessed by behavioral testing and samples were collected for molecular analysis. The passive avoidance test (PAT) performance was significantly reduced by hypoxia exposure compared to the sham group and administration of VNS during hypoxia ameliorated this impairment. Hypoxia caused a significant decrease insignificantly reduced NGF and BDNF mRNA levels in the hippocampus 24 h post-exposure., which was restored with VNS restored NGF mRNA to sham levels and partially increased BDNF mRNA. during hypoxia. Immunohistochemistry results showed VNS significantly restored NGF protein expression in the hippocampus, while BDNF levels remained unchanged.supported these findings. These findings support the potential of VNS as an intervention strategy for cognitive impairments caused by hypoxia.
Keywords: Learning, Memory, Rats, Vagus Nerve Stimulation, hypoxia, NGF, BDNF
Received: 03 Jan 2025; Accepted: 08 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sharma, Jones, Olsen, Moore, Curtner and Hatcher-Solis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Krysten A Jones, Air Force Research Laboratory, Dayton, United States
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