Transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation improved motor cortex excitability in healthy adults: a randomized, single-blind, self-crossover design study

Purpose: To investigate the effect of transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation (tcVNS) on motor cortex excitability in healthy adults.Method: Twenty eight healthy subjects were assigned to receive real and sham tcVNS for 30 minutes. The interval between the real and sham conditions was more than 24 hours, and the sequence was random. The central and peripheral motor-evoked potential (MEP) of the right first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle was measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) before and after stimulation. MEP latency, MEP amplitude and rest motor threshold (rMT) were analyzed before and after stimulation.Results: MEP amplitude, MEP latency and rMT had significant interaction effect between time points and conditions (p0.05).Conclusion: tcVNS could improve motor cortex excitability in healthy adults.