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Vagus nerve stimulation increases vigor to work for rewards

View ORCID ProfileMonja P. Neuser, View ORCID ProfileVanessa Teckentrup, View ORCID ProfileAnne Kühnel, View ORCID ProfileManfred Hallschmid, View ORCID ProfileMartin Walter, View ORCID ProfileNils B. Kroemer
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/789982
Monja P. Neuser
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Vanessa Teckentrup
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Anne Kühnel
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
7Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry (IMPRS-TP), Munich, Germany
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Manfred Hallschmid
4Department of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
5German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Tübingen, Germany
6Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Martin Walter
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
2Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Germany
3Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Jena, Jena, Germany
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Nils B. Kroemer
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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  • For correspondence: nils.kroemer@uni-tuebingen.de
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Abstract

Interoceptive feedback transmitted via the vagus nerve plays a vital role in motivation by tuning actions according to physiological needs. Whereas vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) reinforces actions and enhances dopamine transmission in animals, motivational effects elicited by VNS in humans are still largely elusive. Here, we applied non-invasive transcutaneous auricular VNS (taVNS) on the left or the right ear using a randomized cross-over design (vs. sham). During stimulation, 81 healthy participants had to exert effort to earn food or monetary rewards. We reasoned that taVNS enhances motivation and tested whether it does so by increasing prospective benefits (i.e., vigor) or reducing costs of action (i.e., maintenance) compared to sham stimulation. In line with preclinical studies, taVNS generally enhanced invigoration of effort (p = .004, Bayes factor, BF10 = 7.34), whereas stimulation on the left side primarily facilitated vigor for food rewards (left taVNS: Stimulation × Reward Type, p =.003, BF10 = 11.80). In contrast, taVNS did not affect effort maintenance (ps ≥ .09, BF10 < 0.52). Critically, during taVNS, vigor declined less steeply with decreases in wanting (Δb = −.046, p = .031) indicating a boost in the drive to work for rewards. Collectively, our results suggest that taVNS enhances reward-seeking by boosting vigor, not effort maintenance and that the side of the stimulation affects generalization beyond food reward. We conclude that taVNS may enhance the pursuit of prospective rewards which may pave new avenues for treatment of motivational deficiencies.

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Posted October 01, 2019.
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Vagus nerve stimulation increases vigor to work for rewards
Monja P. Neuser, Vanessa Teckentrup, Anne Kühnel, Manfred Hallschmid, Martin Walter, Nils B. Kroemer
bioRxiv 789982; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/789982
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Vagus nerve stimulation increases vigor to work for rewards
Monja P. Neuser, Vanessa Teckentrup, Anne Kühnel, Manfred Hallschmid, Martin Walter, Nils B. Kroemer
bioRxiv 789982; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/789982

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