Höper and colleagues have recently published the results of their study on the influence
of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) on prefrontal cortex oxygenation
and autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in adolescents. In a within-subject-cross-randomised
and sham-controlled study, they compared 15-minute electrical stimulation at the concha
(tVNS) with stimulation at the ear lobe (sham) and measured heart rate (HR) and heart
rate variability (HRV) as indexes of ANS activity. They found an increase in HRV and
a decrease in HR during tVNS compared to sham and proposed a therapeutic potential
of tVNS for disorders associated with altered ANS functioning (
Höper et al., 2022
). However, we believe there could be a potential bias in the intervention effect
estimates due to baseline imbalance. We appreciate a revisiting of the data and additional
statistical analysis for a better understanding of the results and methodological
challenges in the field.- Höper S.
- Kaess M.
- Koenig J.
Prefrontal cortex oxygenation and autonomic nervous system activity under transcutaneous
auricular vagus nerve stimulation in adolescents.
Auton. Neurosci. 2022; 241103008https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autneu.2022.103008
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References
- Prefrontal cortex oxygenation and autonomic nervous system activity under transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in adolescents.Auton. Neurosci. 2022; 241103008https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autneu.2022.103008
- The use of baseline covariates in crossover studies.Biostatistics. 2010; 11: 1-17https://doi.org/10.1093/biostatistics/kxp046
- The analysis of cross-over trials with baseline measurements.Stat. Med. 2010; 29: 3211-3218https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.3998
- Does transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation affect vagally mediated heart rate variability? A living and interactive bayesian meta-analysis.Psychophysiology. 2021; 58e13933https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13933
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 05, 2022
Accepted:
July 31,
2022
Received:
July 7,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
