Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation modulates fear memory extinction and neural responses in humans.

IF 2.9 2区医学 Q2 NEUROSCIENCES

Cerebral cortex Pub Date : 2025-08-01 DOI:10.1093/cercor/bhaf224

Xuejiao Zhang, Yujing Sun, Chenhao Zhao, Feng Yu, Jiaying Li, Zongya Zhao, Sizhi Ai

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Previous research has shown that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) promotes declarative fear extinction, but its neural mechanisms in this process are still unclear. This study aimed to explore tVNS's impacts on physiological (skin conductance response [SCR]) and neural (event-related potentials, ERP) fear-related responses. Forty healthy participants were randomly assigned to the tVNS or Sham group. During a fear-conditioned memory paradigm, electroencephalograph (EEG) and SCR were measured. We analyzed SCR amplitude, ERP components, EEG signal spectral analysis, and the correlation between SCR and EEG metrics. Results showed that compared with the Sham group, the tVNS group had a remarkable decrease in SCR amplitudes for conditioned stimuli (CS+) during retrieval and recall, suggesting reduced sympathetic arousal. ERP analysis revealed a notable decline in late positive potential (LPP) (400-800 ms) amplitudes for CS+ in the tVNS group during these phases, indicating weakened neural reactivity. A significant group-by-phase interaction showed that tVNS effectively suppressed immediate and sustained fear responses, maintaining lower fear-related physiological and neural activity levels. These findings suggest that tVNS modulates neural circuits involved in fear processing, clarifies the mechanisms underlying fear extinction, and highlights its therapeutic potential for fear-related disorders.

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经皮迷走神经刺激调节人类恐惧记忆消退和神经反应。

已有研究表明经皮耳迷走神经刺激（tVNS）可促进陈述性恐惧消退，但其在此过程中的神经机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨电视刺激对生理（皮肤电导反应[SCR]）和神经（事件相关电位，ERP）恐惧相关反应的影响。40名健康参与者被随机分配到tVNS组或Sham组。在恐惧条件记忆范式中，测量脑电图（EEG）和SCR。我们分析了SCR幅值、ERP成分、脑电信号频谱分析以及SCR与脑电信号指标之间的相关性。结果显示，与Sham组相比，tVNS组在检索和回忆过程中条件刺激（CS+）的SCR幅值显著降低，表明交感神经觉醒降低。ERP分析显示，tVNS组CS+的后期正电位（LPP）（400-800 ms）振幅在这些阶段显著下降，表明神经反应性减弱。显著的群体-阶段交互作用表明，tVNS有效抑制即时和持续的恐惧反应，维持较低的恐惧相关生理和神经活动水平。这些发现表明，tVNS调节了参与恐惧处理的神经回路，阐明了恐惧消退的机制，并突出了其治疗恐惧相关疾病的潜力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cerebral cortex 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

6.30

自引率

8.10%

发文量

510

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Cerebral Cortex publishes papers on the development, organization, plasticity, and function of the cerebral cortex, including the hippocampus. Studies with clear relevance to the cerebral cortex, such as the thalamocortical relationship or cortico-subcortical interactions, are also included. The journal is multidisciplinary and covers the large variety of modern neurobiological and neuropsychological techniques, including anatomy, biochemistry, molecular neurobiology, electrophysiology, behavior, artificial intelligence, and theoretical modeling. In addition to research articles, special features such as brief reviews, book reviews, and commentaries are included.