Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Modulates Performance but Not Pupil Size During Nonnative Speech Category Learning.
Purpose: Subthreshold transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) synchronized with behavioral training can selectively enhance nonnative speech category learning in adults. Prior work has demonstrated that behavioral performance increases when taVNS is paired with easier-to-learn Manda...
| Published in: | Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research Vol. 66; no. 10; pp. 3825 - 3844 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Oct2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=172861986&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 172861986 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10924388 1SM jtl: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research issn: 10924388 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2023 vid: 66 iid: 10 pid: 42 pub: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association artinfo: ui: 172861986 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00596 ppf: 3825 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.7MB tig: atl: Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Modulates Performance but Not Pupil Size During Nonnative Speech Category Learning. aug: au: McHaney, Jacie R. Schuerman, William L. Leonard, Matthew K. Chandrasekaran, Bharath affil: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL University of California San Francisco su: Pennsylvania Behavior therapy Task performance Language acquisition Learning Blind experiment Speech perception Research Vagus nerve Pupil (Eye) Reflexes Questionnaires Electric stimulation Descriptive statistics Research funding Statistical sampling Cluster analysis (Statistics) Data analysis software Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation Neural stimulation sug: subj: Behavior therapy Task performance Language acquisition Learning Blind experiment Pennsylvania Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Speech perception Research Vagus nerve Pupil (Eye) Reflexes Questionnaires Electric stimulation Descriptive statistics Research funding Statistical sampling Cluster analysis (Statistics) Data analysis software Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation Neural stimulation ab: Purpose: Subthreshold transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) synchronized with behavioral training can selectively enhance nonnative speech category learning in adults. Prior work has demonstrated that behavioral performance increases when taVNS is paired with easier-to-learn Mandarin tone categories in native English listeners, relative to when taVNS is paired with harder-to-learn Mandarin tone categories or without taVNS. Mechanistically, this temporally precise plasticity has been attributed to noradrenergic modulation. However, prior work did not specifically utilize methodologies that indexed noradrenergic modulation and, therefore, was unable to explicitly test this hypothesis. Our goal for this study was to use pupillometry to gain mechanistic insights into taVNS behavioral effects. Method: Thirty-eight participants learned to categorize Mandarin tones while pupillometry was recorded. In a double-blinded design, participants were divided into two taVNS groups that, as in the prior study, differed according to whether taVNS was paired with easier-to-learn tones or harder-to-learn tones. Learning performance and pupillary responses were measured using linear mixed-effects models. Results: We found that taVNS did not have any tone-specific or group behavioral or pupillary effects. However, in an exploratory analysis, we observed that taVNS did lead to faster rates of learning on trials paired with stimulation, particularly for those who were stimulated at lower amplitudes. Conclusions: Our results suggest that pupillary responses may not be a reliable marker of locus coeruleus--norepinephrine system activity in humans. However, future research should systematically examine the effects of stimulation amplitude on both behavior and pupillary responses. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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