NCT05120336

tVNS Effects on Motivation in Depression

The Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Motivation in Major Depressive Disorder

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 67 (actual)
• Sponsor: University Hospital Tuebingen · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Attaining goals or rewards commonly entails response costs. In light of cost and benefits, how do participants decide what effort should be put in to give it a shot? Figuratively, you may "go with your gut", but the literal contribution of the gut-brain axis in allocating effort is poorly understood to date. Here, the investigators propose to investigate non-invasive transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS) as a potential modulator of energy metabolism and response vigor. Since the neural mechanisms causing the diverse cognitive and behavioral effects of the stimulation remain largely elusive, the investigators will use computational modeling of instrumental behavior and determine the primary metabolic effects of the stimulation. The investigators hypothesize that tVNS will lead to activation of afferent targets in the brain. In turn, the elicited brain activation is expected to mediate the cognitive effects of the stimulation. This may affect both sides of the utility equation because anti-depressive effects may correspond to boosting the benefit of effort whereas anti-nociceptive effects may reduce perceived costs of effort. Collectively, dissecting the cognitive effects of non-invasive tVNS in healthy individuals may facilitate the more widespread use as a treatment in mental disorders that are characterized by metabolic alterations such as depression.

Conditions

• Major Depressive Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation	Non-invasive brain stimulation technique that is used to stimulate vagal afferent projections to the nucleus of the solitary tract. Invasive VNS has been approved for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression.
DEVICE	sham stimulation	Sham procedure for active transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-12-11
• Primary completion: 2021-01-29
• Completion: 2021-01-29
• First posted: 2021-11-15
• Last updated: 2021-12-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Germany