ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Digital Mental Health
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1593614
Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Stress Regulation: An EEG and Questionnaire Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Electronics and Information, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea
- 2Interdisciplinary Graduate Program for Artificial Intelligence Smart Convergence Technology, Korea University, Sejong, Republic of Korea
- 3Neurive Co., Ltd, Gimhae, 50969, Republic of Korea
- 4Department of Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul 028411, Republic of Korea
- 5Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has demonstrated efficacy in alleviating stress-related symptoms, yet its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms remain incompletely understood. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the effects of taVNS on stress regulation by employing self-report surveys and electroencephalography (EEG) measures. Participants performed mental arithmetic (MA) and 2-back tasks to induce stress, receiving either taVNS or sham stimulation in a randomized, crossover design. Resting-state EEG was recorded at baseline and immediately after each stress-inducing task-thereby capturing persisting taVNS-induced changes in neural activity-and subjective stress levels were assessed immediately before and after stimulation. The survey results showed a significant increase in perceived stress following the tasks in the sham condition, whereas stress levels in the taVNS condition did not significantly change. Power spectral density (PSD) analyses revealed that theta and alpha band power in the frontal region significantly decreased only in the sham condition, suggesting elevated stress. Furthermore, whole-brain network analysis indicated a significant reduction in theta band path length in the taVNS condition following both tasks, pointing to enhanced global network efficiency that may help prevent stress escalation. By demonstrating distinctive EEG and behavioral differences between taVNS and sham stimulation, this study provides a neurophysiological basis for taVNS as a non-invasive intervention for stress regulation. Future research involving a more diverse participant pool and optimization of taVNS parameters will further clarify its therapeutic potential.
Keywords: transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) 1, Stress2, electroencephalography (EEG)3, power spectral density (PSD)4, brain network5
Received: 21 Mar 2025; Accepted: 06 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kim, Lee, Hong, Choi, Song and Hwang. 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:
Jae-Jun Song, Neurive Co., Ltd, Gimhae, 50969, Republic of Korea
Han-Jeong Hwang, Department of Electronics and Information, Korea University, Sejong 30019, Republic of Korea
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