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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Laboratory Administration of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS): Technique, Targeting, and Considerations
Published on: January 7, 2019
Heart period variability during vagal nerve stimulation
A B Setty1, B V Vaughn, S R Quint
1Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7025, USA.
Abstract:
Vagal nerve stimulation is an emerging therapy for epilepsy, yet little is known regarding the effects of this stimulation on heart period variability. We selected 10 patients (two female, eight male) who were receiving high-frequency, high-intensity left vagal nerve stimulation for intractable epilepsy. Electrocardiogram data were recorded for a 7 min baseline, 2.5 min of stimulation and a 7 min post-stimulation period. We found no significant changes in average heart period, instantaneous changes of successive R-to-R intervals greater than 50 ms or fractal dimension. We also found no significant changes in the total power in the 0.0-0.04 Hz, 0.04-0.12 Hz and 0.2-0.4 Hz bands with stimulation of the left vagus nerve. This study suggests that left vagal nerve stimulation has little acute effect on the cardiac rhythm or heart period variability.
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