The Effect Of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation On Sports Performance And Physiological Parameters

Summary

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of non-invasive auricular VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulation) on sportive performance and physiological parameters in healthy individuals.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: 46 healthy young individuals aged 19.2(±1.5) years participated in the study. The participants were randomly divided into 3 groups as Above Threshold Group (n:15; 10 females, 5 males), Under Threshold Group (n:15; 10 females, 5 males) and Control Group (no stimulation) (n:16; 11 females, 5 males) according to the sensation of electrical current on ears. The participants were evaluated 3 times; before the application, after the first and second bicycle exercises. Numerical pain scale (NPS), pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and distance travelled during exercise for sportive performance were recorded in kilometers as the evaluation method. The stimulation was done during the first bicycle exercise with 5 minutes of duration. The Kruskal-wallis, mann-whitney u test were used for the quantitative independent data obtained. In the analysis of qualitative independent data, chi-squared test was used.

Conditions

• Healthy
• Activity, Motor

Interventions

DEVICE

Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Level Of Above Threshold

Biphasic current was applied as follows; frequency 10 Hz, in Modulation mode (Modulation mode is a combination of pulse rate and pulse width modulation. The pulse rate and width are automatically varied in a cycle pattern. The pulse width is reduced by 50% from its original setting in 0.5 second, then the pulse rate is reduced by 50% from its original setting in 0.5 second. Total cycle time is 1 second.), the pulse width was 300 μs. The current intensity was kept constant where the participant felt the current comfortably and applied for 5 minutes.

DEVICE

Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Level Of Subthreshold

biphasic current was applied as follows; frequency 10 Hz, in Modulation mode (Modulation mode is a combination of pulse rate and pulse width modulation. The pulse rate and width are automatically varied in a cycle pattern. The pulse width is reduced by 50% from its original setting in 0.5 second, then the pulse rate is reduced by 50% from its original setting in 0.5 second. Total cycle time is 1 second.), the pulse width was 300 μs. The parameters were the same with Above Threshold Group but the current was reduced to where the participant did not feel the current after the threshold value was reached and again applied for 5 minutes.

DEVICE

Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Sham Method

Participants were shown that the device was working, but no current was given.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

5 Minutes Bicycle Exercise

Participants in this group were asked to perform bicycle exercise with maximum performance under 50 watts for 5 minutes.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sinop University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

27 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-02-01

Primary Completion

2020-02-01

Completion

2020-11-01

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations