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Transcutaneous Vagus and Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation

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Theory-Driven Approaches to Cognitive Enhancement

Abstract

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) and trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) are noninvasive brain stimulation techniques that modulate brain activity via bottom-up mechanisms. That is, the stimulation of cranial nerves (with nuclei located in the brain stem) modulates upstream monoaminergic nuclei and the cortex. Given that tVNS and TNS are new stimulation techniques, this chapter addresses their effectiveness as cognitive and mood enhancer. We review the available physiological, cognitive, and behavioral studies on tVNS and TNS, to clarify whether and under which conditions real stimulation might enhance cognition and mood in heathy humans. Even though comparison between studies is difficult since different devices were used by different research groups and the stimulation methods differ broadly, e.g., in intensity (mA) and frequency (Hz), it seems that tVNS and TNS modulate cognition via norepinephrine (NE) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Although more research is needed to fully understand the effects tVNS and TNS exert on cognition and mood in the long term, we conclude that tVNS and TNS are promising tools for enhancing cognitive functions and that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between stimulation intensity and cognitive performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Psychology Unit and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Lorenza S. Colzato

  2. Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Neuropsychology, Department of Neurology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

    Kristl Vonck

  3. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Lorenza S. Colzato

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  1. Lorenza S. Colzato
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Correspondence to Lorenza S. Colzato .

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Colzato, L.S., Vonck, K. (2017). Transcutaneous Vagus and Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation. In: Theory-Driven Approaches to Cognitive Enhancement. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57505-6_9

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