| Title |
Auricular transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in depressed patients: a randomized controlled pilot study
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Neural Transmission, November 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00702-012-0908-6 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Ernst Hein, Magdalena Nowak, Olga Kiess, Teresa Biermann, Kristina Bayerlein, Johannes Kornhuber, Thomas Kraus |
| Abstract |
Invasive vagus nerve stimulation has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment in major depressive episodes. Recently, a novel non-invasive method of stimulating the vagus nerve on the outer canal of the ear has been proposed. In healthy subjects, a prominent fMRI BOLD signal deactivation in the limbic system was found. The present pilot study investigates the effects of this novel technique of auricular transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation in depressed patients for the first time. A total of 37 patients suffering from major depression were included in two randomized sham controlled add-on studies. Patients were stimulated five times a week on a daily basis for the duration of 2 weeks. On days 0 and 14, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were assessed. In contrast to sham-treated patients, electrically stimulated persons showed a significantly better outcome in the BDI. Mean decrease in the active treatment group was 12.6 (SD 6.0) points compared to 4.4 (SD 9.9) points in the sham group. HAMD score did not change significantly in the two groups. An antidepressant effect of a new transcutaneous auricular nerve stimulation technique has been shown for the first time in this controlled pilot study. Regarding the limitations of psychometric testing, the risk of unblinding for technical reasons, and the small sample size, further studies are necessary to confirm the present results and verify the practicability of tVNS in clinical fields. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 7 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2 | 29% |
| United States | 1 | 14% |
| Unknown | 4 | 57% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 7 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 239 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
| Russia | 1 | <1% |
| Italy | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 235 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 32 | 13% |
| Researcher | 32 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 30 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 23 | 10% |
| Other | 16 | 7% |
| Other | 40 | 17% |
| Unknown | 66 | 28% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 55 | 23% |
| Psychology | 30 | 13% |
| Neuroscience | 25 | 10% |
| Engineering | 18 | 8% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 14 | 6% |
| Other | 20 | 8% |
| Unknown | 77 | 32% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 28. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 October 2023.
All research outputs
#1,434,879
of 26,017,215 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Neural Transmission
#43
of 1,893 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#8,950
of 206,432 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Neural Transmission
#1
of 19 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,017,215 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,893 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 19 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.