Turns out someone has done part of my study! Granted, they didn’t incorporate acupuncture and they used a slightly different part of the ear, AND 30hz instead of 2 hz. They showed an increase in HRV in their subjects, which I have not consistently shown in the clinic.
Noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation in healthy humans reduces sympathetic nerve activity
http://www.brainstimjrnl.com/article/S1935-861X%2814%2900260-5/abstract
Highlights
- •Transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (tVNS) increases heart rate variability and alters cardiovascular autonomic control towards parasympathetic predominance
- •tVNS causes a decrease in vasoconstrictor sympathetic nerve activity recorded using microneurography.
- •As sympathoexcitation is a hallmark of many conditions, including heart failure, tVNS may be a simple and inexpensive therapy for such conditions.
Abstract
Background
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is currently used to treat refractory epilepsy and is being investigated as a potential therapy for a range of conditions, including heart failure, tinnitus, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease. However, the invasive nature and expense limits the use of VNS in patient populations and hinders the exploration of the mechanisms involved.
Objective
We investigated a non-invasive method of VNS through electrical stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve distributed to the skin of the ear – transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) and measured the autonomic effects.
Methods
The effects of tVNS parameters on autonomic function in 48 healthy participants were investigated using heart rate variability (HRV) and microneurography. tVNS was performed using a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) machine and modified surface electrodes. Participants visited the laboratory once and received either active (200 μs, 30 Hz; n = 34) or sham (n = 14) stimulation.
Results
Active tVNS significantly increased HRV in healthy participants (P = 0.026) indicating a shift in cardiac autonomic function toward parasympathetic predominance. Microneurographic recordings revealed a significant decrease in frequency (P = 0.0001) and incidence (P = 0.0002) of muscle sympathetic nerve activity during tVNS.
Conclusion
tVNS can increase HRV and reduce sympathetic nerve outflow, which is desirable in conditions characterized by enhanced sympathetic nerve activity, such as heart failure. tVNS can therefore influence human physiology and provide a simple and inexpensive alternative to invasive VNS.
This breakdown of the innervation of the ear is from a previous blog post. Of interest is that the cymba concha is innervated 100% by the auricular branch of the vagus nerve. The tragus gets 45% from auricular branch of the vagus nerve and 55 from the greater auricular nerve.
