Search bioRxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.09.10.612366

Vibrotactile auricular vagus nerve stimulation alters limbic system connectivity in humans: A pilot study

Donovan, K. M.·Adams, J. D.·Park, K. Y.·Demarest, P.·Tan, G.·Willie, J. T.·Brunner, P.·Gorlewicz, J. L.·Leuthardt, E. C.
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Vibration offers a potential alternative modality for transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS). However, mechanisms of action are not well-defined. The goal of this study was to evaluate the potential of vibrotactile stimulation as a method for activating central brain regions akin to other vagal nerve stimulation methodologies. To do so, intracranial electrophysiological signals were recorded in human subjects to perform a parametric characterization of vibrotactile taVNS and investigate changes in coherence across key brain regions. We hypothesized that vibrotactile taVNS would increase coherence between limbic brain areas, similar to areas activated by classic electrical VNS approaches. Our specific regions of interest included the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus. Patients with intractable epilepsy undergoing stereotactic electroencephalography (sEEG) monitoring participated in the study. Vibrotactile taVNS was administered across five vibration frequencies following a randomized stimulation on/off pattern, and sEEG signals were recorded throughout. Spectral coherence in response to stimulation was defined across four canonical frequency bands, theta, alpha, beta, and broadband gamma. At the group level, vibrotactile taVNS resulted in significantly increased global low-frequency coherence. Anatomically, multiple limbic brain regions exhibited notably increased coherence during taVNS compared to baseline. The percentage of total electrode pairs demonstrating increased coherence was also quantified at the individual level. 20 Hz vibration resulted in the highest percentage of responder pairs across low-frequency coherence measures, but notable inter-subject variability was present. Overall, vibrotactile taVNS induced significant low-frequency coherence increases involving several limbic system structures. Further, parametric characterization revealed the presence of inter-subject variability in terms of identifying the optimal vibration frequency. These findings encourage continued research into vibrotactile stimulation as an alternative modality for noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation.

Source connections

Explore related subjects

neurosciencePreprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Donovan, K. M., Adams, J. D., Park, K. Y., Demarest, P., Tan, G., Willie, J. T., Brunner, P., Gorlewicz, J. L., Leuthardt, E. C.. 2024-09-14. Vibrotactile auricular vagus nerve stimulation alters limbic system connectivity in humans: A pilot study. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.10.612366

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Cell Types in Describing Neuronal Physiological Features

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) captures detailed gene expression profiles at scale, while patch-clamp recordings measure intrinsic neuronal electrophysiological properties. Modeling the relations between these two modalities remains a challenge. Here, we compare how well electrophysiological features can be predicted by traditional transcriptomic cell type classification, representations derived from a foundational model (scGPT) pretrained on large-scale scRNA-seq datasets, ion channel-coding genes, and highly variable genes. Using paired transcriptomic and electrophysiological patch-sequencing data from 495 human neurons from neurosurgical tissue, we find that cluster-level cell type representations consistently outperform highly variable gene selection, ion channel gene selection, and context-enriched scGPT embeddings. Notably, performance varies across model architectures and initializations, and the best results are obtained by combining the outputs of separate cell type and scGPT-based models. Together, these findings suggest that traditional discrete cellular classification is highly effective in predicting physiological features. For maximum performance it can be complemented by pretrained transformer models.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2026

A nonlinear inhibition pathway underlying cortical responses to tuned holographic optogenetic perturbations

Optogenetics enables causal manipulation of cortical activity. Perturbation responses can be counterintuitive due to network interactions, making theory essential for predicting them. Existing approaches often rely on linear approximations, which fail for many biologically relevant perturbations. Here we develop a nonlinear theory of responses to holographic perturbations in cell-type-specific recurrent networks with structured connectivity. We fit a nonlinear model to mouse V1 data, which shows cotuned-ensemble suppression: perturbing spatially clustered neurons with similar preferred orientations yields markedly stronger short-range suppression than perturbing untuned ensembles. We show that cotuned-ensemble suppression arises from a feature-tuned, nonlinear inhibition pathway implicating somatostatin-positive (SST) interneurons. The theory predicts that cotuned ensembles suppress parvalbumin-positive (PV) neurons but facilitate SST neurons, and links the degree of cotuned-ensemble suppression or facilitation to the variance of the SST response. This framework identifies mechanisms by which nonlinear inhibition sculpts cortical dynamics and establishes a predictive basis for targeted optogenetic interventions.

neuroscience↗
bioRxiv2026

Proteomic signatures of APOE ε4 across human tissues and cell types in Alzheimers disease

The apolipoprotein E {varepsilon}4 (APOE {varepsilon}4) allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimers disease (AD). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study included 1691 participants from the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project (ROSMAP), 1226 participants from the Accelerating Medicines Partnership - Alzheimers Disease (AMP-AD) Diverse Cohorts Study, and 735 participants from the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). To characterise APOE {varepsilon}4 molecular effects, we analysed proteomic data from plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived astrocytes and neurons, as well as transcriptomic and proteomic data from multiple brain regions. The association of APOE {varepsilon}4 with AD neuropathology was also examined. APOE {varepsilon}4 carriers shared a plasma proteomic signature enriched for immune processes, irrespective of AD diagnosis. A machine learning classifier trained on this signature discriminated APOE {varepsilon}4 carriers from non-carriers in an independent cohort using CSF proteomics. APOE {varepsilon}4 carriage was associated with higher Braak stages and Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimers Disease (CERAD) score. However, only limited APOE {varepsilon}4-associated transcriptomic and proteomic changes were observed in bulk brain tissue, with poor cross-layer concordance. Proteomic analyses of iPSC-derived astrocytes and neurons further revealed cell-type-specific APOE {varepsilon}4-associated changes. APOE {varepsilon}4 is associated with a consistent proteomic signature across plasma and CSF. Its molecular effects in the brain differ across cell types, brain regions and molecular layers. These findings support the need for cell-type-resolved multi-omic studies to elucidate how APOE {varepsilon}4 confers AD risk.

neuroscience↗