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Auricular vagus nerve stimulation for stress reduction: Evidence from alpha prefrontal asymmetry

Palaniappan, Ramaswamy, Mouli, Surej, Fringi, Evangelia, Ollis, Jane, Kanegaonkar, Rahul, Arora, Sunil, McLoughlin, Ian Vince (2021) Auricular vagus nerve stimulation for stress reduction: Evidence from alpha prefrontal asymmetry. In: 2020 IEEE-EMBS Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (IECBES). . IEEE ISBN 978-1-72814-246-3. E-ISBN 978-1-72814-245-6. (doi:10.1109/IECBES48179.2021.9398788) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:91411)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IECBES48179.2021.9398788

Abstract

This study explores auricular vagus nerve stimulation (aVNS) within the context of stress. Five healthy subjects underwent a pulsed mode aVNS (with a frequency of 25 Hz and pulse width of 200 μs) using a custom made current stimulation device. The device triggered the auricular vagus nerve branch through the tragus for 15 minutes, with prefrontal EEG data collected pre and post aVNS (each for 5 minutes) to capture stress indicators. Given that the frontal location is prone to noise, EEG signal pre-processing through independent component analysis (ICA) was used to reduce eye movements and other artifacts. Alpha (8-14 Hz) asymmetry in prefrontal location in both hemispheres was computed from locations Fp1 and Fp2 for one second segments of EEG; these asymmetry values were normalised by subtracting the post aVNS (or placebo) from pre aVNS (placebo). The normalised alpha frontal asymmetries were assessed for statistical significance using T-test. Results showed increased aVNS alpha prefrontal asymmetry compared to placebo, indicating reduced stress. This was statistically significant ( ) for all five subjects. It is therefore concluded that the pulsed mode aVNS stimulation at the tragus may represent a potential approach for stress relief.

Item Type: Conference or workshop item (Proceeding)
DOI/Identification number: 10.1109/IECBES48179.2021.9398788
Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General) > R858 Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics. Medical information technology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Computing
Depositing User: Palaniappan Ramaswamy
Date Deposited: 08 Nov 2021 10:46 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 18:40 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/91411 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Palaniappan, Ramaswamy.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5296-8396
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

McLoughlin, Ian Vince.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7111-2008
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
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