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Updated: Dec 31, 2025
Vagus Nerve Stimulation as a Tool to Induce Plasticity in Pathways Relevant for Extinction Learning
Published on: August 21, 2015
Auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation improves memory persistence in naïve mice and in an intellectual
Anna Vázquez-Oliver1, Cecilia Brambilla-Pisoni1, Mikel Domingo-Gainza2
1Laboratory of Neuropharmacology, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
Background:
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) using non-invasive approaches have attracted great attention due to their anti-epileptic, anti-depressive and pro-cognitive effects. It has been proposed that auricular transcutaneous VNS (atVNS) could benefit intellectual disability disorders, but preclinical data supporting this idea is limited.
Objective:
To develop an atVNS device for mice and to test its efficacy on memory performance in naïve mice and in a mouse model for intellectual disability.
Methods:
Naïve outbreed CD-1 mice and a model for fragile X syndrome, the Fmr1 knockout (Fmr1KO), were used to assess the effect of atVNS in the novel object-recognition memory performance.
Results:
We found that atVNS significantly improves memory persistence in naïve mice. Notably, atVNS was efficacious in normalizing the object-recognition memory deficit in the Fmr1KO model.
Conclusion:
Our data show that atVNS improves memory persistence in naïve mice and in a model of intellectual disability and support further studies taking advantage of preclinical mouse models of cognitive disorders.
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