Respiratory-gated Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Improving Apathy in Parkinson's Disease

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age40-90
SponsorAnhui Medical University

About this trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether 100HZ respiratory-gated vagus nerve stimulation (RAVANS) can improve the non-motor symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). It will also learn the safety of 100HZ RAVANS. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Can 100HZ RAVANS improve apathy in people with PD? Did the participants have any side effects or safety issues when undergoing 100HZ RAVANS? Researchers compared 100HZ RAVANS with sham stimulation (low-dose stimulation of the same site and treatment parameters) to see if 100HZ RAVANS could improve non-motor symptoms in patients with PD.

Participants will:

Receive 100HZ RAVANS or sham stimulation for 2 weeks. Neuropsychological assessment, imaging and biological sample collection were conducted before and after the entire cycle.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

Meet the diagnostic criteria for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (based on the MDS Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Parkinson's Disease (2015 version)).

Patients with Apathy Motivation Index (AMI) score >1.7.

All PD patients must be on stable, standardized medication regimens with no adjustments to medications for at least 1 month prior to the study and throughout the study period.

Demonstrate good compliance and adherence, capable of completing behavioral tests and taVNS therapy.

Disqualifiers

Prior brain MRI/CT showing focal brain lesions or severe white matter disease (Fazekas grade 3 or higher).

Secondary parkinsonism (e.g., vascular parkinsonism, drug-induced parkinsonism).

History of severe traumatic brain injury, neurosurgery, or deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy.

Personal history of epilepsy, unexplained loss of consciousness, or current use of anticonvulsant medications for seizure control.

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Active RAVANS
  • Sham RAVANS

Treatment groups

60 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups

Sponsors and collaborators