Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover Trial
BackgroundIndividuals are able to perform goal-directed behaviors thanks to executive functions. According to the neurovisceral integration model, executive functions are upregulated by brain areas such as the prefrontal and cingulate cortices, which are also crucially involved in controlling cardia...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2020.00523/full |
| _version_ | 1818555061792407552 |
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| author | Uirassu Borges Laura Knops Sylvain Laborde Sylvain Laborde Stefanie Klatt Stefanie Klatt Markus Raab Markus Raab |
| author_facet | Uirassu Borges Laura Knops Sylvain Laborde Sylvain Laborde Stefanie Klatt Stefanie Klatt Markus Raab Markus Raab |
| author_sort | Uirassu Borges |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundIndividuals are able to perform goal-directed behaviors thanks to executive functions. According to the neurovisceral integration model, executive functions are upregulated by brain areas such as the prefrontal and cingulate cortices, which are also crucially involved in controlling cardiac vagal activity. An array of neuroimaging studies already showed that these same brain areas are activated by transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS). Despite evidence toward effects of tVNS on specific executive functions such as inhibitory control, there have been no studies investigating what type of inhibition is improved by tVNS by systematically addressing them within the same experiment. Furthermore, the effect of tVNS on another core executive function, cognitive flexibility, has not yet been investigated.ObjectiveWe investigated the effects of tVNS on core executive functions such as inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility.MethodsThirty-two participants (nine women, Mage = 23.17) took part in this study. Vagally mediated heart rate variability parameters (root mean square of successive differences, RMSSD, and high frequency, HF) were measured while participants performed four different cognitive tasks that mainly rely on different aspects of both the aforementioned executive functions.ResultsDespite clear conflict effects in the four tasks, only performance on the task used to measure set-shifting paradigm was improved by tVNS, with switch costs being lower during tVNS than during sham stimulation. Furthermore, HF increased during each of the cognitive flexibility tasks, although HF during tVNS did not differ from HF during sham stimulation.ConclusionThe results indicate for the first time (a) that tVNS can increase cognitive flexibility in a set-shifting paradigm, and (b) that tVNS may exert a stronger effect on cognitive flexibility than inhibition. The present study provides only partial evidence for the neurovisceral integration model. Future studies should address further paradigms that demand cognitive flexibility, thus investigating this new hypothesis on the specificity of the tVNS effects on cognitive flexibility. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:48:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-90554d803ea147619a9939cd7ee8c0de |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:48:18Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-90554d803ea147619a9939cd7ee8c0de2022-12-22T00:28:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2020-05-011410.3389/fnins.2020.00523524366Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover TrialUirassu Borges0Laura Knops1Sylvain Laborde2Sylvain Laborde3Stefanie Klatt4Stefanie Klatt5Markus Raab6Markus Raab7Institute of Psychology, German Sport University, Cologne, GermanyInstitute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Duesseldorf, GermanyInstitute of Psychology, German Sport University, Cologne, GermanyUFR STAPS, Université de Caen Normandie, Caen, FranceInstitute of Exercise Training and Sport Informatics, German Sport University, Cologne, GermanyInstitute of Sports Science, University of Rostock, Rostock, GermanyInstitute of Psychology, German Sport University, Cologne, GermanySchool of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, United KingdomBackgroundIndividuals are able to perform goal-directed behaviors thanks to executive functions. According to the neurovisceral integration model, executive functions are upregulated by brain areas such as the prefrontal and cingulate cortices, which are also crucially involved in controlling cardiac vagal activity. An array of neuroimaging studies already showed that these same brain areas are activated by transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS). Despite evidence toward effects of tVNS on specific executive functions such as inhibitory control, there have been no studies investigating what type of inhibition is improved by tVNS by systematically addressing them within the same experiment. Furthermore, the effect of tVNS on another core executive function, cognitive flexibility, has not yet been investigated.ObjectiveWe investigated the effects of tVNS on core executive functions such as inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility.MethodsThirty-two participants (nine women, Mage = 23.17) took part in this study. Vagally mediated heart rate variability parameters (root mean square of successive differences, RMSSD, and high frequency, HF) were measured while participants performed four different cognitive tasks that mainly rely on different aspects of both the aforementioned executive functions.ResultsDespite clear conflict effects in the four tasks, only performance on the task used to measure set-shifting paradigm was improved by tVNS, with switch costs being lower during tVNS than during sham stimulation. Furthermore, HF increased during each of the cognitive flexibility tasks, although HF during tVNS did not differ from HF during sham stimulation.ConclusionThe results indicate for the first time (a) that tVNS can increase cognitive flexibility in a set-shifting paradigm, and (b) that tVNS may exert a stronger effect on cognitive flexibility than inhibition. The present study provides only partial evidence for the neurovisceral integration model. Future studies should address further paradigms that demand cognitive flexibility, thus investigating this new hypothesis on the specificity of the tVNS effects on cognitive flexibility.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2020.00523/fulltVNSvagus nerve stimulationHRVheart rate variabilitycardiac vagal activityexecutive functions |
| spellingShingle | Uirassu Borges Laura Knops Sylvain Laborde Sylvain Laborde Stefanie Klatt Stefanie Klatt Markus Raab Markus Raab Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover Trial Frontiers in Neuroscience tVNS vagus nerve stimulation HRV heart rate variability cardiac vagal activity executive functions |
| title | Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover Trial |
| title_full | Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover Trial |
| title_fullStr | Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover Trial |
| title_short | Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Enhance Only Specific Aspects of the Core Executive Functions. A Randomized Crossover Trial |
| title_sort | transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation may enhance only specific aspects of the core executive functions a randomized crossover trial |
| topic | tVNS vagus nerve stimulation HRV heart rate variability cardiac vagal activity executive functions |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2020.00523/full |
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