Training and Transfer Effects of Combining Inhibitory Control Training With Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Healthy Adults

• Main Authors: Cao, X. (Author), Gao, Z. (Author), Liu, Y. (Author), Wang, C. (Author), Wen, Z. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
• Subjects: far-transfer effect; inhibitory control training; near-transfer effect; training effect; tVNS
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Inhibitory control training (ICT) is a promising method to improve individual performance of inhibitory control (IC). Recent studies have suggested transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) as a novel approach to affect cognitive function owing to its ability to modulate the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline system. To examine the synergistic effects of combining ICT with tVNS, 58 young males in college were randomly assigned to four groups: ICT + tVNS, ICT + sham tVNS, sham ICT + tVNS, and sham ICT + sham tVNS. Participants were instructed to complete three sessions that comprised pre-training tests, a training session, and post-training tests sequentially. Results showed that the ICT + tVNS group significantly improved training and near-transfer effects on the stop-signal and Go/No-go tasks, and these effects were larger than those of the other groups. However, none of the groups exhibited the far-transfer effect on the color-word Stroop task. These results suggest that tVNS augments the intervention effects of training and similar inhibition tasks to achieve the synergistic effect; however, it does not modulate the effects of non-training tasks and obtain the far-transfer effect. ICT combined with tVNS may be a valuable intervention for improving IC in healthy individuals in certain industries and offers novel research ideas for using tVNS for cognitive improvement. Copyright © 2022 Wang, Cao, Gao, Liu and Wen.