Recovery of Autonomous Balance as Indicator of Normalizing Effects of Non-Invasive Vagus Stimulation

Clinical studies have shown the effectiveness of electrical stimulation for mental and stress-related disorders. We analysed the effects of novel transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) for boosting mental and physical health and performance in work conditions. 62 healthy volunteers 18–49 years old were recruited for the study. The tVNS (BrainPatch platform for non-invasive stimulation) was arranged as a 4-day course of 6-minute stimulation sessions with monitoring of heart rate variability (HRV). Psychological testing (State Anxiety, STAI; psychological stress level, PSM-25; emotional burnout level MBI; identification of depression, IDS) was carried out on the first and last day of the study. We detected beneficial changes in the psychoemotional state of the respondents: improvement of mood, reduction of work stress (PSM-25), beneficial effects on emotional exhaustion and professional reduction (MBI), as well as on depression symptoms (IDS). HRV effects of VNS were observable and significant in short-term and reflected the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (the increase of vagally mediated parameter RMSSD and decrease of LF/HF ratio). An increase in the spectrum of high-frequency band indicates a high degree of recovery and readiness for stress. Our data suggests that the novel tVNS protocol attenuated the work related stress impacts. A normalizing effect of the tVNS on the psychoemotional state manifested in the form of shifting “sympatho-vagal balance” to the functional optimum.