Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-making
Background: The locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system is a well-established regulator of behavior, yet its precise role remains unclear. Animal studies predominantly support a “gain” hypothesis, suggesting that the LC-NE system enhances sensory processing. In contrast, human studies have pro...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Brain Stimulation |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X25001019 |
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| author | Shiyong Su Thomas Vanvoorden Pierre Le Denmat Alexandre Zénon Clara Braconnier Julie Duque |
| author_facet | Shiyong Su Thomas Vanvoorden Pierre Le Denmat Alexandre Zénon Clara Braconnier Julie Duque |
| author_sort | Shiyong Su |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system is a well-established regulator of behavior, yet its precise role remains unclear. Animal studies predominantly support a “gain” hypothesis, suggesting that the LC-NE system enhances sensory processing. In contrast, human studies have proposed an alternative “urgency” hypothesis, postulating that LC-NE primarily accelerates responses. Method: To address this discrepancy, we administered transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) in two experiments. In the first experiment (n = 22), we showed that 4-s tVNS trains reliably induced greater pupil dilation compared to SHAM condition, indicating increased LC-NE activity. In the second experiment (n = 21), we applied tVNS during a random dot motion task to assess its impact on perceptual decision-making. Result: tVNS improved accuracy without affecting reaction times, which appears inconsistent with the “urgency” hypothesis. Exploratory drift-diffusion model analyses further support the “gain” hypothesis, revealing that tVNS increased the drift rate, indicative of enhanced evidence accumulation. Both accuracy and drift-rate improvements were most prominent following errors and especially pronounced in participants who exhibited post-error declines in these measures under SHAM. Conclusion: Our findings align with the “gain” hypothesis, with tentative evidence suggesting that the impact of LC-NE activity adapts to task demands. Accordingly, tVNS showed the strongest effects in contexts prone to accuracy declines, possibly reflecting attentional disengagement, which points to a role of LC in mitigating lapses of attention. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8231a33d481c479a8033aeeffbfee91d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1935-861X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Stimulation |
| spelling | doaj-art-8231a33d481c479a8033aeeffbfee91d2025-08-20T01:55:27ZengElsevierBrain Stimulation1935-861X2025-05-0118397598610.1016/j.brs.2025.04.020Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-makingShiyong Su0Thomas Vanvoorden1Pierre Le Denmat2Alexandre Zénon3Clara Braconnier4Julie Duque5Cognition and Actions Lab, Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Brussels, BelgiumCognition and Actions Lab, Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Brussels, BelgiumDepartment of Brain and Cognition, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumInstitut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux, FranceCognition and Actions Lab, Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Brussels, BelgiumCognition and Actions Lab, Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium; Corresponding author. CoActions Lab, Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Avenue Mounier 53, 1200, Brussels, Belgium.Background: The locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system is a well-established regulator of behavior, yet its precise role remains unclear. Animal studies predominantly support a “gain” hypothesis, suggesting that the LC-NE system enhances sensory processing. In contrast, human studies have proposed an alternative “urgency” hypothesis, postulating that LC-NE primarily accelerates responses. Method: To address this discrepancy, we administered transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) in two experiments. In the first experiment (n = 22), we showed that 4-s tVNS trains reliably induced greater pupil dilation compared to SHAM condition, indicating increased LC-NE activity. In the second experiment (n = 21), we applied tVNS during a random dot motion task to assess its impact on perceptual decision-making. Result: tVNS improved accuracy without affecting reaction times, which appears inconsistent with the “urgency” hypothesis. Exploratory drift-diffusion model analyses further support the “gain” hypothesis, revealing that tVNS increased the drift rate, indicative of enhanced evidence accumulation. Both accuracy and drift-rate improvements were most prominent following errors and especially pronounced in participants who exhibited post-error declines in these measures under SHAM. Conclusion: Our findings align with the “gain” hypothesis, with tentative evidence suggesting that the impact of LC-NE activity adapts to task demands. Accordingly, tVNS showed the strongest effects in contexts prone to accuracy declines, possibly reflecting attentional disengagement, which points to a role of LC in mitigating lapses of attention.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X25001019Locus coeruleusNorepinephrineDecision-makingRandom dot motionDrift diffusion modelSensory processing |
| spellingShingle | Shiyong Su Thomas Vanvoorden Pierre Le Denmat Alexandre Zénon Clara Braconnier Julie Duque Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-making Brain Stimulation Locus coeruleus Norepinephrine Decision-making Random dot motion Drift diffusion model Sensory processing |
| title | Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-making |
| title_full | Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-making |
| title_fullStr | Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-making |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-making |
| title_short | Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision-making |
| title_sort | transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation boosts accuracy during perceptual decision making |
| topic | Locus coeruleus Norepinephrine Decision-making Random dot motion Drift diffusion model Sensory processing |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X25001019 |
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