Modifying functional brain networks in focal epilepsy by manual visceral-osteopathic stimulation of the vagus nerve at the abdomen.

Non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation elicits similar therapeutic effects as invasive vagus nerve stimulation, offering a potential treatment alternative for a wide range of diseases, including epilepsy. Here, we present a novel, non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve, which is performed manually viscero-osteopathically on the abdomen (voVNS). We explore the impact of short-term voVNS on various local and global characteristics of EEG-derived, large-scale evolving functional brain networks from a group of 20 subjects with and without epilepsy. We observe differential voVNS-mediated alterations of these characteristics that can be interpreted as a reconfiguration and modification of networks and their stability and robustness properties. Clearly, future studies are necessary to assess the impact of such a non-pharmaceutical intervention on clinical decision-making in the treatment of epilepsy. However, our findings may add to the current discussion on the importance of the gut-brain axis in health and disease. Clinical Trial Registration : https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00029914, identifier DRKS00029914.
Competing Interests: The authors RW and KL declared that they were editorial board members of Frontiers at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2023 Lehnertz, Broehl, Rings, von Wrede and Lehnertz.)