AUTHOR=Wang Chunchen , Zeng Lingwei , Cao Xinsheng , Dai Jing , Liu Yang , Gao Zhijun , Qin Yilong , Yang Lin , Wang Hang , Wen Zhihong 

TITLE=Synergistic effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation and inhibitory control training on electrophysiological performance in healthy adults

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 17 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1123860

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2023.1123860

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a non-invasive nerve stimulation technique that has a positive “exogenous” online neuromodulation on inhibitory control (IC). Additionally, IC training (ICT) is an effective approach to enhance IC by an “endogenous” activation of brain regions implicated in IC. The aim of the present study was to examine the synergistic effects of tVNS and ICT on IC enhancement. For this, we measured neural activity changes in frontal, fronto-central, and central regions in the time domain of the N2 component and the frequency domain of alpha power during the stop signal task. A total of 58 participants were randomly divided into four groups that received five sessions of either ICT or sham ICT with either online tVNS or sham tVNS. No differences in the N2 amplitude were detected after any of the interventions. However, N2 latency shortened after tVNS + ICT in frontal, fronto-central, and central regions. N2 latency shortened after the intervention of sham tVNS +ICT in frontal region. Moreover, alpha power after tVNS + ICT intervention was larger than those of the other interventions in frontal, fronto-central, and central regions. There results suggest that combing tVNS with ICT has synergistic effects that improve IC, as assessed by electrophysiological data. This is the first electrophysiological evidence to demonstrate the potential of tVNS combined with ICT to enhance IC.