The mechanism of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in hemodialysis patients with insomnia: An fMRI study

Motivation: Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) and auricular acupressure(AA) represent two promising auricular therapes for insomnia in china. However, to data the investiagation of the mechanism of taVNS compared with AA among maintenance hemodialysis with insomnia (MHDSD) cohort is lacking. Goal(s): This study investigates the neural mechanisms of taVNS for MHDSD by using fMRI technique. Approach: Using fMRI technique, we investigated the fMRI patterns across groups after treatment using a fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) approach. Results: The brain regions with interactive effects of fALFF between two groups mainly located in the right middle/suproccipital gyrus, left cuneus gyrus, and left cerebellar/lingual gyrus. Impact: With MRI techniques, our study for the first systematically shows that after 4 weeks of taVNS, patients with MHDSD have altered functional activity which mainly distributed in emotional and sensorimotor networks.