CLINICAL TRIAL article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Autonomic Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1619532
This article is part of the Research TopicExpanding Therapeutic Horizons with Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve StimulationView all 10 articles
Feasibility of Vagus Nerve Modulation (VNMM/taVNS) in Cognitive-Swallowing Dual-Task Paradigms: A fNIRS Pilot Study
Provisionally accepted
- First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
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Background: Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation techniques show promise for modulating cortical networks, but their comparative effects during combined cognitive-swallowing tasks remain underexplored. Aims: This feasibility study aimed to: (1) establish a protocol for assessing taVNS and VNMM effects using fNIRS during dual-task paradigms, and (2) compare their impacts on cortical activation and functional connectivity. Methods: This protocol (ChiCTR2200065698) consisted of two separate blocks, a cognitive task (n=25) and a swallowing task (n=25), and healthy subjects in either block were randomly assigned to the taVNS and VNMM groups. The subjects underwent swallowing or cognitive task-state data acquisition before and after the trial intervention. The functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were analyzed by generalized linear modeling (GLM) and seed-based correlation analysis to assess the cortical excitability and brain connectivity, and a BrainNet Viewer was used to visualize the intervention effects. Results: Under the cognitive and swallowing task-state fNIRS protocols, both taVNS and VNMM significantly enhanced the activation effects and intra/inter-hemispheric brain network connectivity in the cognitive or swallowing-related brain regions (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrates the feasibility of using fNIRS to differentiate taVNS/VNMM effects during dual-task paradigms. Preliminary data suggest VNMM may offer superior network modulation, warranting larger trials to validate behavioral correlates.
Keywords: taVNS (transauricular vagus nerve stimulation), vagus nerve magnetic modulation, FNIRS (functional Near-InfraRed Spectroscopy), cortical excitability, brain connectitvity, Feasibility study
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Cheng, Bai, Zhang and Ni. 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: Keling Cheng, First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
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