Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41495721›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2026

Predicting treatment response to transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in patients with insomnia: resting-state functional connectivity based multivoxel pattern analysis.

Meng Qi, Songna Li, Xiao Wu, Biyun Xu, Runru Mai, Zhaoxian Yan, Zhiping Zhong, Bo Liu, Yue Zhang

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Meng QiDepartment of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 111, Dade Road, Guangdong, Guangzhou, China.ORCID 0000-0003-1617-7903
Songna LiDepartment of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 111, Dade Road, Guangdong, Guangzhou, China.
Xiao WuDepartment of Chinese Medicine, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Biyun XuDepartment of Psychology and Sleep, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou, University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Runru MaiDepartment of Psychology and Sleep, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou, University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Zhaoxian YanDepartment of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 111, Dade Road, Guangdong, Guangzhou, China.
Zhiping ZhongDepartment of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 111, Dade Road, Guangdong, Guangzhou, China.
Bo LiuDepartment of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 111, Dade Road, Guangdong, Guangzhou, China. liubogzcm@163.com.ORCID 0000-0002-9159-1226
Yue ZhangDepartment of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, No. 111, Dade Road, Guangdong, Guangzhou, China. ZYue_2024@163.com.ORCID 0000-0002-8439-1488

Funding

Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province 2023NSFSC1762Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou 202102010260Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine YN2018ML10Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine YN2020MS09Youth Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China 82304984
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe salience network, with the insula as its central hub, plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of primary insomnia (PI). Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) shows therapeutic potential, its neural mechanisms and predictive biomarkers remain uncharacterized.

methodsIn a double-blind trial, 67 PI patients (taVNS = 34, sham = 33) underwent clinical assessments and resting-state fMRI at baseline and after 4-week treatment. We analyzed:1)Treatment-induced changes in bilateral insula-cortical functional connectivity (FC); 2)Predictive value of baseline FC using support vector regression.

resultsTaVNS group showed significantly improved clinical assessment compared with staVNS. Decreased rs-FCs were found between the left insula and areas involved in DMN(superior parietal gyrus, SPG), Visual/Auditory (superior occipital gyrus, SOG; middle occipital gyrus, MOG; calcarine and middle temporal gyrus, MTG) and cingulo-opercular network(middle frontal gyrus, MFG and cerebellum).In addition, decreased FC between left insula and left cerebellum correlated negatively with sleep disturbances score improvement (r = -0.502, p = 0.006, Bonferroni correction), while decreased FC between left insula and right SOG positively with sleep latency score (r = 0.391, p = 0.040,uncorrection). Baseline left insula-visual/auditory circuit FC can predicte taVNS treatment response in PI (r = 0.534, p = 0.002, 5000 permutation test).

conclusionsTaVNS may alleviate PI symptoms by reducing FCs between the salience and task-positive networks and within the cingulo-opercular network to reduce visual-related overactivity and hypervigilance.The baseline functional connectivity in the left insula-visual/auditory circuit could act as a candidate biomarker for predicting taVNS treatment response, which enable the screen of therapy-responsive insomnia patients before treatment. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR 1900022535, 2019-04-16).

Indexed as

Cerebral CortexConnectomeInsular CortexNerve NetSleep Initiation and Maintenance DisordersTranscutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationVagus Nerve StimulationAdultDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedTreatment OutcomeFunctional connectivity of insulaFunctional MRIInsomniaResting-state functional connectivityTranscutaneous vagus nerve stimulation nerve stimulation

Identifiers

PMID41495721
PMCPMC12777391

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.