Key result
Transdermal electrical neurosignaling lowers tension and anxiety scores ~18% and blunts acute stress responses vs sham.
Why the study?
A transdermal neuromodulation approach targeting peripheral nerves to influence brain function and suppress sympathetic activity was engineered and needed evaluation.
Does transdermal electrical neurosignaling reduce sympathetic activity and stress responses in human subjects?
RCT (n=84)
Single-blind
Randomly assigned
No
Does transdermal electrical neurosignaling reduce sympathetic activity and stress responses in human subjects?
Absolute Event Rate: 1.73% vs 2.1%
p-value: p=0.04
Transdermal electrical neurosignaling dampens basal sympathetic tone and attenuates sympathetic activity in response to acute stress, offering a potential approach to managing daily stress.
May offer noninvasive stress reduction; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
We engineered a transdermal neuromodulation approach that targets peripheral (cranial and spinal) nerves and utilizes their afferent pathways as signaling conduits to influence brain function. We investigated the effects of this transdermal electrical neurosignaling (TEN) method on sympathetic physiology under different experimental conditions. The TEN method involved delivering high-frequency pulsed electrical currents to ophthalmic and maxillary divisions of the right trigeminal nerve and cervical spinal nerve afferents. Under resting conditions, TEN significantly suppressed basal sympathetic tone compared to sham as indicated by functional infrared thermography of facial temperatures. In a different experiment, subjects treated with TEN reported significantly lower levels of tension and anxiety on the Profile of Mood States scale compared to sham. In a third experiment when subjects were experimentally stressed TEN produced a significant suppression of heart rate variability, galvanic skin conductance, and salivary α-amylase levels compared to sham. Collectively these observations demonstrate TEN can dampen basal sympathetic tone and attenuate sympathetic activity in response to acute stress induction. Our physiological and biochemical observations are consistent with the hypothesis that TEN modulates noradrenergic signaling to suppress sympathetic activity. We conclude that dampening sympathetic activity in such a manner represents a promising approach to managing daily stress.
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Tyler et al. (2015) conducted an RCT in Healthy volunteers (Stress) (n=84). Transdermal electrical neurosignaling (TEN) vs. Sham stimulation (1-2 kHz, <4 mA) was evaluated on Tension and anxiety score on the Profile of Mood States (POMS) scale (Experiment 2) (p=0.04). Transdermal electrical neurosignaling significantly reduced self-reported tension and anxiety and suppressed physiological and biochemical responses to acute stress compared to sham stimulation.