Regulation of negative emotions via stimulation of the vagal nerve and its neural basis

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K13504
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Experimental psychology
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Ohira Hideki 名古屋大学, 情報学研究科, 教授 (90221837)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SAKAKIBARA Masahito 愛知学院大学, 心身科学部, 教授 (10221996) ; MATSUNAGA Masahiro 愛知医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (00533960)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 生理

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to examine whether stimulation of the vagal nerve activity which is important for regulation of negative emotions can dampen responses in negative emotions, sympathetic nerve, endocrine, and inflammation systems, by using transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS). However, it has been found that the legal regulation prevents import of the devise of tVNS into Japan. Thus, we tried another method of vagal stimulation, that is slow paced respiration with a pace of 6 cpm. Study 1 showed that this method can significantly enhance the vagal nerve activity, evaluated by heart rate variability. However, Study 2 revealed no effects of vagal nerve stimulation to dampen responses accompanying experiences of negative emotions. It is inferred that the effect size of the paced respiration is relatively small, and other methods which can more robustly enhance vagal nerve activity should be explored.

Free Research Field

生理心理学