Author: Jifei Sun1, Chunlei Guo1, Yue Ma1, Shanshan Gao1, Yi Luo1, Qingyan Chen1, Yang Hong1, Xiaobing Hou2, Xue Xiao2, Xue Yu2, Peijing Rong3, Jiliang Fang4
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, 100053 Beijing, China.
<sup>2</sup> Beijing First Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, 100700 Beijing, China.
<sup>3</sup> Department of Physiology, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, 100026 Beijing, China. Electronic address: drrongpj@163.com.
<sup>4</sup> Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, 100053 Beijing, China. Electronic address: Fangmgh@163.com.
Conference/Journal: J Affect Disord
Date published: 2023 Jan 12
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.035. , Word Count: 266
Background:
Previous studies have found that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is clinically effective in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), and its efficacy mechanism is related to modulation of the default mode network (DMN) and cognitive control network (CCN). However, the mechanism of the immediate effect of taVNS for MDD remains to be elucidated.
Methods:
A total of 58 patients with MDD and 54 healthy controls(HCs) were included in this study. The MDD group was treated with taVNS for 30 min (20 Hz, 4-6 mA) immediately, and we observed amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) abnormalities in the MDD group and changes in ALFF and functional connectivity (FC) before and after immediate treatment. The ALFF brain regions altered by taVNS induction were used as regions of interest to analyze whole-brain FC changes in the MDD group.
Results:
After taVNS treatment, ALFF in the right precuneus was decreased in the MDD group. The FC of the right precuneus with the left middle frontal gyrus, the left posterior cingulate gyrus and the left angular gyrus were decreased in the MDD group. Correlation analysis showed that the FC values between the right precuneus and the left posterior cingulate gyrus in the pre-treatment MDD group was negatively correlated with the 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale scores.
Conclusion:
TaVNS has an immediate modulatory effect on DMN and CCN. It would be proposed that these functional networks may be effective targets for the long-term treatment of MDD patients with taVNS.
Keywords: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations; Functional connectivity; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Major depressive disorder; Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation.
PMID: 36642310 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.035