Invasive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an FDA-approved approach to treating drug-resistant epilepsy and depression, and is being investigated for use in ischemic stroke rehabilitation, Parkinson’s Disease, chronic pain, migraines, and tinnitus. The vagus nerve influences the locus coeruleus (LC), a small brainstem nucleus that serves as the brain’s primary source of norepinephrine (NE), which plays an essential role in arousal, stress, cognitive function, and attention. An imbalance of norepinephrine is associated with a number of neurological conditions, including depression and epilepsy; thus, VNS-induced change in LC-NE activity is considered to be a plausible explanation for the mechanism of VNS treatment in those conditions. Considering the cost and risks associated with invasive procedures, there is growing interest in studying non-invasive techniques for VNS as alternative treatments. The present study, conducted at the National Center for Adaptive Neurotechnologies, focuses on transcutaneous stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (taVNS) that innervates portions of the outer ear. Recent studies investigating LC-NE activity in taVNS treatment lack consensus on which biological marker should be used to assess taVNS efficacy. Some studies suggest use of the P300 biomarker, an event-related potential (ERP) recorded by electroencephalography (EEG), that is detected 250-600 milliseconds after presentation of a low-probability “oddball” stimulus, but the findings are inconsistent. The P300 is generally associated with higher cognitive functions such as attention, with classifications for task and memory processing. This study aims to replicate and extend study of the P300 as a biomarker for adjusted attention in response to taVNS. We hypothesize that taVNS causes an immediate and short-term change in the P300 ERP, independent of the stimulus modality presentation (i.e. auditory or visual). Preliminary results from four participants demonstrate that taVNS has a non-significant effect on the P300 in both modalities. Further findings from this study may help guide the selection of monitoring tools for more widespread use of taVNS treatment in the variety of clinical applications.
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