Auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation stabilizes event segmentation through modulation of working memory representations.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Segmenting continuous experience into discrete units-event segmentation-is fundamental for situational awareness and adaptive action. Based on Event Segmentation Theory, we used auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (atVNS) to test whether the control of event segmentation is moderated by norepinephrine and/or GABAergic systems.

Methods

Healthy adults (N = 40) completed a double-blind, counterbalanced experiment in which they watched a narrative movie and indicated perceived event boundaries under active atVNS and sham stimulation while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) quantified the decodability of boundary interval (BI) vs no-boundary interval (NBI), and EEG source reconstruction assessed cortical activ

SUBMITTER: Zhou X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12911928 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature