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Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Pain and Brain Activity in Healthy Adults

14 września 2026 zaktualizowane przez: David A. Purger

The Effects of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) on Acute Pain Perception and Brain Activity in Healthy Adults

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether stimulating a nerve in the neck changes how much pain people feel. It also looks at whether this stimulation changes brain activity. The study is being done in healthy adults ages 18 to 70.

The nerve being studied is called the vagus nerve. It runs through the neck and connects to parts of the brain that handle pain. In this study, the nerve is stimulated from outside the body using a small device placed on the skin. There is no surgery, and nothing is implanted.

The main questions it aims to answer are: (1) Does stimulating the vagus nerve lower the pain people feel during a cold water test? (2) Does stimulating the vagus nerve change the electrical activity in the brain?

Researchers will compare pain ratings and brain activity under three conditions in the same person: no stimulation, real stimulation over the vagus nerve, and sham stimulation placed nearby on the neck. Sham stimulation feels similar but is not aimed at the nerve.

Participants will: (1) Come to one visit that lasts about 90 minutes, with no follow-up visits, (2) Wear a cap that records the brain's natural electrical signals for the whole visit, (3) Place both hands in cold water, about 39 degrees Fahrenheit, up to three times for up to 2 minutes each time, (4) Rate their pain after each cold water test, (5) Wear a stimulation device on the neck during two of the three cold water tests, (6) Not be told which of those two is the real stimulation until the visit is over.

Przegląd badań

Status

Jeszcze nie rekrutacja

Warunki

Interwencja / Leczenie

Typ studiów

Interwencyjne

Zapisy (Szacowany)

20

Faza

  • Nie dotyczy

Kontakty i lokalizacje

Ta sekcja zawiera dane kontaktowe osób prowadzących badanie oraz informacje o tym, gdzie badanie jest przeprowadzane.

Kontakt w sprawie studiów

Kopia zapasowa kontaktu do badania

Lokalizacje studiów

  • Stany Zjednoczone
    • Indiana
      • Indianapolis, Indiana, Stany Zjednoczone, 46202
        • IU Health Neuroscience Center
        • Kontakt:
          • Department of Neurological Surgery
          • Numer telefonu: 317-963-1300
          • E-mail: dpurger@iu.edu

Kryteria uczestnictwa

Badacze szukają osób, które pasują do określonego opisu, zwanego kryteriami kwalifikacyjnymi. Niektóre przykłady tych kryteriów to ogólny stan zdrowia danej osoby lub wcześniejsze leczenie.

Kryteria kwalifikacji

Wiek uprawniający do nauki

  • Dorosły
  • Starszy dorosły

Akceptuje zdrowych ochotników

Tak

Opis

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18 to 70 years
  • Healthy, defined as having no history of chronic medical, neurological, or psychiatric conditions
  • Not currently experiencing acute illness or chronic pain
  • Not currently taking medications that influence the nervous system or pain sensitivity
  • Willing and able to provide written informed consent in English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of vagal or vasovagal symptoms
  • Respiratory distress
  • Cardiac arrhythmia
  • Sleep apnea
  • Pregnancy
  • Substance abuse
  • Primary psychiatric disorder
  • Prior vagus nerve stimulation or any implanted medical device
  • Significant acute or chronic neurologic illness that, in the judgment of the Principal Investigator, could compromise participant safety, limit the ability to complete the study, or compromise the objectives of the study

Plan studiów

Ta sekcja zawiera szczegółowe informacje na temat planu badania, w tym sposób zaprojektowania badania i jego pomiary.

Jak projektuje się badanie?

Szczegóły projektu

  • Główny cel: Podstawowa nauka
  • Przydział: Randomizowane
  • Model interwencyjny: Zadanie krzyżowe
  • Maskowanie: Pojedynczy

Broń i interwencje

Grupa uczestników / Arm
Interwencja / Leczenie
Eksperymentalny: Active Stimulation First, Then Sham
Participants complete a cold pressor test with no stimulation, then a second cold pressor test during active transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation, then a third during sham stimulation.
Urządzenie: Active transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Stimulation applied over the cervical branch of the vagus nerve, anterior to the sternocleidomastoid along the carotid sheath. Pulse width 200 microseconds, frequency 30 Hz, rectangular monophasic waveform, intensity titrated between 17.8 and 39.5 volts to a mild tingling sensation below the threshold of discomfort. Stimulation is maintained for 20 minutes before the cold pressor test and continues throughout it.
Urządzenie: Sham transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Identical device, parameters, and duration as the active condition, differing only in placement. The device is positioned slightly posterior on the neck, away from the cervical branch of the vagus nerve.
Inny: Cold pressor test
Immersion of both hands up to the wrist in water maintained at 4 degrees Celsius with ice for up to two minutes or as long as tolerated. Performed three times per participant: once with no stimulation, once during active stimulation, and once during sham stimulation.
Eksperymentalny: Sham Stimulation First, Then Active
Participants complete a cold pressor test with no stimulation, then a second cold pressor test during sham stimulation, then a third during active transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation.
Urządzenie: Active transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Stimulation applied over the cervical branch of the vagus nerve, anterior to the sternocleidomastoid along the carotid sheath. Pulse width 200 microseconds, frequency 30 Hz, rectangular monophasic waveform, intensity titrated between 17.8 and 39.5 volts to a mild tingling sensation below the threshold of discomfort. Stimulation is maintained for 20 minutes before the cold pressor test and continues throughout it.
Urządzenie: Sham transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Identical device, parameters, and duration as the active condition, differing only in placement. The device is positioned slightly posterior on the neck, away from the cervical branch of the vagus nerve.
Inny: Cold pressor test
Immersion of both hands up to the wrist in water maintained at 4 degrees Celsius with ice for up to two minutes or as long as tolerated. Performed three times per participant: once with no stimulation, once during active stimulation, and once during sham stimulation.

Co mierzy badanie?

Podstawowe miary wyniku

Miara wyniku
Opis środka
Ramy czasowe
Pain intensity measured by the Numerical Pain Rating Scale
Ramy czasowe: Immediately after each of the three cold pressor tests during a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Participant-reported pain intensity on an 11-point scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain imaginable. Higher scores indicate greater pain. Rated immediately after each cold pressor test.
Immediately after each of the three cold pressor tests during a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Pain intensity measured by the Visual Analogue Scale
Ramy czasowe: Immediately after each of the three cold pressor tests during a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Participant-reported pain intensity is marked on a 100 mm line anchored at 0 mm for no pain and 100 mm for the worst imaginable pain. The distance in millimeters from the left anchor is recorded as the score. Higher scores indicate greater pain. Rated immediately after each cold pressor test.
Immediately after each of the three cold pressor tests during a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Pain threshold during cold pressor test
Ramy czasowe: During each of the three cold pressor tests within a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Time in seconds from hand immersion to the participant's first verbalized sensation of pain, recorded separately for each hand.
During each of the three cold pressor tests within a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.

Miary wyników drugorzędnych

Miara wyniku
Opis środka
Ramy czasowe
Change in EEG spectral power
Ramy czasowe: Continuously throughout a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Change in spectral power within canonical frequency bands (delta 1 to 4 Hz, theta 4 to 8 Hz, alpha 8 to 12 Hz, beta 13 to 30 Hz, gamma above 30 Hz), measured by continuous 16-channel electroencephalography, compared across resting baseline, stimulation without noxious stimulus, and stimulation during cold pressor test.
Continuously throughout a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Change in EEG functional connectivity
Ramy czasowe: Continuously throughout a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.
Change in functional connectivity between brain regions, derived from continuous 16-channel electroencephalography. Phase locking values are computed for each pair of EEG channels within canonical frequency bands, and connectivity metrics are derived from those values. Coherence is assessed in the frequency domain. Analyses are restricted to predefined, theory-driven regions and frequency bands. Compared across resting baseline, stimulation without noxious stimulus, and stimulation during the cold pressor test.
Continuously throughout a single visit, approximately 90 minutes.

Współpracownicy i badacze

Tutaj znajdziesz osoby i organizacje zaangażowane w to badanie.

Sponsor

David A. Purger

Współpracownicy

Purdue University
Indiana University Health
Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital

Śledczy

  • Główny śledczy: David A Purger, MD, PhD, Indiana University

Daty zapisu na studia

Daty te śledzą postęp w przesyłaniu rekordów badań i podsumowań wyników do ClinicalTrials.gov. Zapisy badań i zgłoszone wyniki są przeglądane przez National Library of Medicine (NLM), aby upewnić się, że spełniają określone standardy kontroli jakości, zanim zostaną opublikowane na publicznej stronie internetowej.

Główne daty studiów

Rozpoczęcie studiów (Szacowany)

1 września 2026

Zakończenie podstawowe (Szacowany)

1 stycznia 2028

Ukończenie studiów (Szacowany)

1 stycznia 2028

Daty rejestracji na studia

Pierwszy przesłany

14 września 2026

Pierwszy przesłany, który spełnia kryteria kontroli jakości

14 września 2026

Pierwszy wysłany (Rzeczywisty)

18 września 2026

Aktualizacje rekordów badań

Ostatnia wysłana aktualizacja (Rzeczywisty)

18 września 2026

Ostatnia przesłana aktualizacja, która spełniała kryteria kontroli jakości

14 września 2026

Ostatnia weryfikacja

1 września 2026

Więcej informacji

Terminy związane z tym badaniem

Dodatkowe istotne warunki MeSH

Inne numery identyfikacyjne badania

  • 27960
  • SNEU-IIR-TVNS-ADULTS (Inny identyfikator: Indiana University IRB)

Plan dla danych uczestnika indywidualnego (IPD)

Planujesz udostępniać dane poszczególnych uczestników (IPD)?

NIE

Opis planu IPD

This is a small exploratory pilot study in healthy volunteers, designed to generate preliminary effect size estimates rather than definitive findings. With a target enrollment of 20 participants at a single site, the dataset is small enough that a decision about sharing individual participant data has been deferred. The current informed consent form does not specifically address sharing de-identified individual participant data with researchers outside the study team. Any future data sharing would require review of participant consent and approval by the Indiana University Institutional Review Board. The study team will revisit this decision before study completion.

Informacje o lekach i urządzeniach, dokumenty badawcze

Bada produkt leczniczy regulowany przez amerykańską FDA

Nie

Bada produkt urządzenia regulowany przez amerykańską FDA

Tak

produkt wyprodukowany i wyeksportowany z USA

Nie

Te informacje zostały pobrane bezpośrednio ze strony internetowej clinicaltrials.gov bez żadnych zmian. Jeśli chcesz zmienić, usunąć lub zaktualizować dane swojego badania, skontaktuj się z register@clinicaltrials.gov. Gdy tylko zmiana zostanie wprowadzona na stronie clinicaltrials.gov, zostanie ona automatycznie zaktualizowana również na naszej stronie internetowej .

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