Trial reportFrontiers in neurology2025
Default mode network and visual network responsiveness to transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation predict its variable efficacy in primary insomnia disorder.
Trial report in Frontiers in neurology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Rs-fMRI reveals that taVNS improves cognitive and emotional function in mild cognitive impairment by reconfiguration of "sensory relay-salience-default" cross-network effective connectivity: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Trial
- Early High-Frequency Network Reorganization After Spinal Cord Stimulation Is Linked to Long-Term Recovery in Disorders of Consciousness.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: mechanisms, applications, and research progress.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Backgrounds: Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has been proven effective in treating primary insomnia disorder (PID). However, its efficacy exhibits inter-individual variability. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the brain functional mechanisms underlying variable efficacy and to identify potential biomarkers that could predict taVNS efficacy. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 54 PID patients who received real or sham taVNS to assess brain activity and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses. An additional 46 patients receiving real taVNS were recruited to enlarge the treatment cohort, thereby enhancing the statistical power for biomarker identification. Results: Post-treatment, the mean amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (mALFF) of sensorimotor network (SMN), default mode network (DMN), and visual network (VN) in treatment group were significantly increased than those before treatment, and the mALFFs value of the combination of all the differentially significant brain regions (especially DMN + VN) before taVNS were correlated with its efficacy. The heart rate variability indicators "root mean square of successive differences, percentage of adjacent N-N intervals differing by more than 50 ms, and high frequency (HF) during taVNS were significantly greater than pre-treatment. The mALFFs value of DMN and VN before taVNS were correlated with HF during taVNS. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that taVNS may exerts therapeutic effects in PID through modulating the activities of the DMN (left precuneus and bilateral cuneus), VN (left lingual gyrus, left superior occipital gyrus, left cuneus and bilateral calcarine), and SMN (right precentral, right rolandic operculum, bilateral postcentral gyrus, bilateral paracentral gyrus, bilateral supplementary motor areas and left middle cingulate gyrus), thereby regulating the ANS activity in PID patients. Individual differences in functional responsiveness of the DMN + VN + SMN networks, particularly "DMN (left Precuneus and left cuneus) + VN (left superior occipital and left cuneus)" to ANS modulation during taVNS were correlated with variability in efficacy. Additionally, baseline DMN/VN activity and HF parameters during stimulation demonstrated potential as predictive biomarkers for taVNS efficacy. Clinical trial registration: This study protocol was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration Number: ChiCTR2300076474; accessible at www.chictr.org.cn).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.