Abstract
Present project is concerned with the possibility to modulate the neural regulation of food intake by non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve. This nerve carries viscero-afferent information from the gut and other internal organs and therefore serves an important role in ingestive behavior. The electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (VNS) is a qualified procedure in the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy and depression. Since weight loss is a known common side effect of VNS treatment in patients with implanted devices, VNS is evaluated as a treatment of obesity. To investigate potential VNS-related changes in the cognitive processing of food-related items, 21 healthy participants were recorded in a 3-Tesla scanner in two counterbalanced sessions. Participants were presented with 72 food pictures and asked to rate how much they liked that food. Before entering the scanner subjects received a 1-h sham or verum stimulation, which was implemented transcutanously with a Cerbomed NEMOS® device. We found significant activations in core areas of the vagal afferent pathway, including left brainstem, thalamus, temporal pole, amygdala, insula, hippocampus, and supplementary motor area for the interaction between ratings (high vs low) and session (verum vs sham stimulation). Significant activations were also found for the main effect of verum compared to sham stimulation in the left inferior and superior parietal cortex. These results demonstrate an effect of tVNS on food image processing even with a preceding short stimulation period. This is a necessary prerequisite for a therapeutic application of tVNS which has to be evaluated in longer-term studies.
Highlights
Present project is concerned with the possibility to modulate the neural regulation of food intake by non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve
Satiety signals are conveyed to the central nervous system (CNS) through afferent fibers of the vagus nerve, which terminate mainly in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), an important relay center for a variety of vital functions located in the dorsal vagal complex of the medulla oblongata (Sawchenko 1983; Jean 1991)
No differences in food intake, fat, proteins, carbohydrates or calories were present between stimulation and sham sessions
Summary
Present project is concerned with the possibility to modulate the neural regulation of food intake by non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve. NTS projections reach the locus coeruleus (LC) and raphe nuclei (Saper and Loewy 1980; Van Bockstaele et al 1999; Groves and Brown 2005; and Krahl and Clark 2012 for reviews), which provide widespread noradrenergic and serotonergic innervation of the brain These nuclei are believed to play a key role in the mechanisms of action underlying vagus nerve stimulation (VNS; Henry 2002; Groves et al 2005; Fornai et al 2011; Yakunina et al 2017). Results from VNS in animal studies have revealed a decrease in food consumption (Val-Laillet et al 2010; Gil et al 2011), weight loss or decreased weight gain (Roslin and Kurian 2001; ValLaillet et al 2010; Gil et al 2011; Li et al 2015) and a reduction in the cravings for sweet foods (Val-Laillet et al 2010)
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