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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Perception Science
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1539232
Electroencephalographic characteristics of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for prolonged disorders of consciousness: a study protocol
Provisionally accepted
Haoyang Jiao 1
Weihang Zhai 2
Jinling Zhang 3
Long Xu 4
Xiaoli Geng 4 Xueling Chen 4 Yi Yang 4* Yifei Wang 3*- 1 Institute of Chinese Medical History and Literature, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- 2 Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- 3 Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- 4 Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Background:Increasing evidence indicates that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) can promote the recovery of consciousness levels in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDOC). However, previous clinical studies have shown inconsistent clinical efficacy of taVNS in treating pDOC. This could be because no research has clearly defined the indications for taVNS treatment in patients with pDOC, and patients who were not indicated for taVNS treatment were included. Therefore, screening out the indications for patients with pDOC who are suitable for taVNS treatment is a key scientific issue that requires urgent resolution at present. Methods/design:We aim to incorporate 50 patients with pDOC into this study. All patients will undergo a 4-week taVNS treatment, and 30-minute resting electroencephalogram (EEG) and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scores of each patient will be collected before and after the treatment. After the 4-week taVNS treatment, the patients will be followed up in the first, third, sixth, and twelfth months after the treatment. The 50 patients with pDOC will be classified into response and non-response groups based on whether their CRS-R scores increase. The differences in the brain power spectrum and functional connectivity of the EEG before enrollment between the two groups will be compared.The research objective of this experiment is to screen out the EEG characteristics of patients with pDOC who are suitable for taVNS 3 treatment by using EEG technology, and lay the foundation for the wider application of taVNS in the treatment of patients with pDOC.
Keywords: Prolonged Disorders of consciousness, Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation, electroencephalographic characteristics, power spectrum, functional connectivity
Received: 04 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiao, Zhai, Zhang, Xu, Geng, Chen, Yang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yi Yang, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100050, China
Yifei Wang, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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