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Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) enhances response selection during sequential action

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dc.contributor.authorJongkees, B.J.
dc.contributor.authorImmink, M.A.
dc.contributor.authorFinisguerra, A.
dc.contributor.authorColzato, L.S.
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractTranscutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a non-invasive and safe technique that transiently enhances brain GABA and noradrenaline levels. Although tVNS has been used mainly to treat clinical disorders such as epilepsy, recent studies indicate it is also an effective tool to investigate and potentially enhance the neuromodulation of action control. Given the key roles of GABA and noradrenaline in neural plasticity and cortical excitability, we investigated whether tVNS, through a presumed increase in level of these neurotransmitters, modulates sequential behavior in terms of response selection and sequence learning components. To this end we assessed the effect of single-session tVNS in healthy young adults (N = 40) on performance on a serial reaction time task, using a single-blind, sham-controlled between-subject design. Active as compared to sham tVNS did not differ in terms of acquisition of an embedded response sequence and in terms of performance under randomized response schedules. However, active tVNS did enhance response selection processes. Specifically, the group receiving active tVNS did not exhibit inhibition of return during response reversals (i.e., when trial N requires the same response as trial N-2, e.g., 1-2-1) on trials with an embedded response sequence. This finding indicates that tVNS enhances response selection processes when selection demands are particularly high. More generally, these results add to converging evidence that tVNS enhances action control performance.
dc.identifier.citationFrontiers in Psychology, 2018; 9(6, article no. 1159):1-8
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01159
dc.identifier.issn1664-1078
dc.identifier.issn1664-1078
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11541.2/133893
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherFrontiers Research Foundation
dc.relation.fundingNetherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) 452-12-001
dc.rightsCopyright 2018 Jongkees, Immink, Finisguerra and Colzato 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) and the copyright owner(s) 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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01159
dc.subjecttVNS
dc.subjectimplicit motor sequence learning
dc.subjectresponse selection
dc.subjectGABA
dc.subjectcognitive enhancement
dc.titleTranscutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) enhances response selection during sequential action
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished
ror.fileinfo12162753920001831 13162742590001831 9916218589201831.pdf
ror.mmsid9916218589201831

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