The modulation effects of repeated transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on the functional connectivity of key brainstem regions along the vagus nerve pathway in migraine patients

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous studies have shown a significant response to acute transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in regions of the vagus nerve pathway, including the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), raphe nucleus (RN) and locus coeruleus (LC) in both healthy human participants and migraine patients. This study aims to investigate the modulation effect of repeated taVNS on these brainstem regions by applying seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analysis.

Methods

70 patients with migraine were recruited and randomized to receive real or sham taVNS treatments for 4 weeks. fMRI data were collected from each participant before and after 4 weeks of treatment. The rsFC analyses were performed using NTS, RN and LC as the seeds.

Results

59 patient

SUBMITTER: Huang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10275573 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature