How Does Vagus Nerve Stimulation Affect Blood Glucose, Food, and Movement Cravings?

May 18, 2026 updated by: University of Minnesota
The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of using non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) to examine physiological and psychological responses in a college-aged healthy population

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

8

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Minnesota
      • Duluth, Minnesota, United States, 55812
        • University of Minnesota Duluth
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 35 as we are focused on recruiting undergraduate and graduate students.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants will be excluded if they have epilepsy, clinically significant tachycardia or arrhythmia, diabetes (Type 1 or Type 2) or another metabolic disease, current pregnancy, any implanted electronic medical device (for example, pacemaker or defibrillator), or a known skin allergy to adhesives that would prevent CGM placement. Participants will also be excluded if they have a history of major depressive disorder if taVNS could reasonably be expected to alter mood symptoms

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Active taVNS
Device: Active taVNS
Actual taVNS
Placebo Comparator: Sham taVNS
Device: Sham taVNS
No nerve stimulation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in plasma glucose
Time Frame: Hour 2 after oral glucose load
Hour 2 after oral glucose load

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Minnesota

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mark Hartman, PhD, University of Minnesota

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 18, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • taVNS Study 2

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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