he overarching goal of this dissertation was to assess whether transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has beneficial effects over sham stimulation in laboratory models of anxiety.... Show morehe overarching goal of this dissertation was to assess whether transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has beneficial effects over sham stimulation in laboratory models of anxiety. Specifically, in Part I, the effects of tVNS were tested in a fear conditioning paradigm to test the utility of tVNS as an add-on treatment for exposure therapy. In Part II, the effects of tVNS as a stand-alone treatment for one of the core symptoms of anxiety – perseverative cognition – was tested within the experimental framework of a Breathing Focus task. Part III deals with working mechanisms: what is the optimal site of the ear to stimulate the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (ABVN) and what is the hypothesized working mechanism underlying the anxiolytic effects of tVNS? Specifically, the effects of tVNS on both physiological as well as behavioral indices of locus coeruleus – noradrenaline (LC-NA) network activity were tested. Show less
