Influence of Non-invasive Neurostimulation (Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation) on 1. the Noradrenergic Release in the Brain and 2. a Neuropsychological Memory Task

NCT ID: NCT02409069

Last Updated: 2019-09-25

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

44 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2016-11-03

Study Completion Date

2018-03-14

Brief Summary

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The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation 1. on the noradrenergic system in the brain and 2. on memory, in healthy volunteers.

Preclinical and clinical studies indicate that noradrenaline plays a role in the working mechanism of vagus nerve stimulation. This study will investigate if the effects of invasive vagus nerve stimulation can be replicated with transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation.

The release of noradrenaline in the brain will be measured non-invasively by the P300 component of event-related potentials in the electro-encephalogram (EEG) via an auditory oddball paradigm.

Research to elucidate the working mechanism of non-invasive neurostimulation can help to identify subpopulations who will respond well to a treatment and can provide insights that could contribute to the optimalisation of the stimulation parameters, with as possible consequence a better clinical outcome.

Some studies indicate that stimulation of the vagus nerve can optimally influence memory, possibly via the noradrenergic system. This study will investigate if the effects of invasive vagus nerve stimulation on memory can be replicated with transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation.

The influence of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on memory will be measured via a neuropsychological memory task that investigates the ability to focus attention. The correlation between the performance on the memory task and the signal analysis of the auditory oddball task could give an indication about the underlying working mechanism of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on memory.

This will be the first step to investigate whether transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation can be used as innovative intervention for cognitive decline.

Detailed Description

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First a sympathetic skin response (SSR) will be measured to investigate whether the SSR could be used as a method to measure the activity of the locus coeruleus non-invasively.

There are 3 conditions:

1. transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
2. sham stimulation
3. no stimulation

The conditions will be randomized.

In each condition the participant will do the oddball task and then the memory task. Between the conditions there is a wash-out period of 30 minutes. After completion of all 3 conditions and after a wash-out period of 30 minutes, the participant will do a final recognition task (part of the memory task in total).

During the oddball task EEG will be measured. An electro-cardiogram (ECG), electro-oculogram (EOG) and larynx electromyogram (EMG) will also be recorded for easy filtering of artefacts.

Conditions

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Epilepsy Cognitive Decline

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants

Study Groups

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Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (Nemos®, Cerbomed GmbH)

Stimulation of the ramus auricularis of the vagus nerve (ear)

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (Nemos®, Cerbomed GmbH)

Intervention Type DEVICE

Sham stimulation (Nemos®, Cerbomed GmbH)

Stimulation of the earlobe

Group Type SHAM_COMPARATOR

Sham stimulation (Nemos®, Cerbomed GmbH)

Intervention Type DEVICE

No stimulation

No stimulation

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (Nemos®, Cerbomed GmbH)

Intervention Type DEVICE

Sham stimulation (Nemos®, Cerbomed GmbH)

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Healthy volunteers between 18 and 30 years
* Bachelor, Master or PhD students

Exclusion Criteria

* Neurological or psychiatric disease
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

30 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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University Hospital, Ghent

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Neurologie

Prof. dr. Kristl Vonck

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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University Hospital Ghent

Ghent, , Belgium

Site Status

Countries

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Belgium

Other Identifiers

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EC/2014/0249

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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