The antidepressant mechanism of action of vagus nerve stimulation: Evidence from preclinical studies

Annelies Grimonprez; Robrecht Raedt; Chris Baeken; Paul Boon; Kristl Vonck

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.06.019

The antidepressant mechanism of action of vagus nerve stimulation: Evidence from preclinical studies

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2015 Sep:56:26-34. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.06.019. Epub 2015 Jun 25.

Authors

Annelies Grimonprez¹, Robrecht Raedt², Chris Baeken³, Paul Boon⁴, Kristl Vonck⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Neuropsychology (LCEN3), Ghent University, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: annelies.grimonprez@ugent.be.
² Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Neuropsychology (LCEN3), Ghent University, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: robrecht.raedt@ugent.be.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: chris.baeken@gmail.com.
⁴ Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Neuropsychology (LCEN3), Ghent University, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: paul.boon@ugent.be.
⁵ Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology, Neurobiology and Neuropsychology (LCEN3), Ghent University, Department of Neurology, Institute for Neuroscience, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: kristl.vonck@ugent.be.

PMID: 26116875
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.06.019

Abstract

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a proposed neuromodulatory treatment for medically refractory major depression. Although VNS is already used in clinical practice, the underlying mechanism of action remains unknown. The present review provides an overview of the preclinical VNS studies in view of two major hypotheses in depression research: the monoaminergic and the neural plasticity hypothesis of depression.

Keywords: Major depressive disorder; The monoaminergic hypothesis of major depressive disorder; The neural plasticity hypothesis of major depressive disorder; Vagus nerve stimulation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain / physiology*
Depression / therapy*
Humans
Neuronal Plasticity / physiology
Translational Research, Biomedical*
Vagus Nerve Stimulation / methods*