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Clinical Trial NCT07214194 (VNS) for Alzheimer Disease, Aging is not yet recruiting. See the Trial Radar Card View and AI discovery tools for all the details. Or ask anything here.
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Vagus Nerve Stimulation to Enhance Memory in Aging (VNS)

Not yet recruiting
Clinical Trial NCT07214194 (VNS) is an interventional study for Alzheimer Disease, Aging is not yet recruiting. Enrollment is planned to begin on February 1, 2027 until the trial accrues 150 participants. Led by Stanford University, this trial is expected to complete by July 1, 2028. The latest data from ClinicalTrials.gov was last updated on October 9, 2025.
Brief Summary
The aim of this study is to determine whether non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation enhances memory formation in cognitively healthy older adults and whether the effects of stimulation depend on gut and brain health.
Official Title

Vagus Nerve Stimulation to Enhance Memory in Aging

Conditions
Alzheimer DiseaseAging
Other Study IDs
  • VNS
  • VNS102025
NCT ID Number
NCT07214194
Start Date (Actual)
2027-02
Last Update Posted
2025-10-09
Completion Date (Estimated)
2028-07
Enrollment (Estimated)
150
Study Type
Interventional
PHASE
N/A
Status
Not yet recruiting
Primary Purpose
Basic Science
Design Allocation
Randomized
Interventional Model
Crossover Assignment
Masking
Single
Arms / Interventions
Participant Group/ArmIntervention/Treatment
ExperimentalActive vagus nerve stimulation
Participants will receive active stimulation during memory encoding of picture-word pairs. Active stimulation will occur during two learning phases of the learning and memory task. The total duration of these two phases will be less than 30 minutes.
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (Tavns)
Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation will be delivered with a well-validated device. taVNS delivers stimulation on the left ear, with the placement of the stimulating electrode differing between the active and sham conditions. Stimulation will occur during each learning trial (total of 30 trials per phase).
Sham ComparatorSham stimulation
Participants will receive sham stimulation during memory encoding of picture-word pairs. Sham stimulation will occur during two learning phases of the learning and memory task. The total duration of these two phases will be less than 30 minutes.
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (Tavns)
Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation will be delivered with a well-validated device. taVNS delivers stimulation on the left ear, with the placement of the stimulating electrode differing between the active and sham conditions. Stimulation will occur during each learning trial (total of 30 trials per phase).
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome MeasureMeasure DescriptionTime Frame
Change in Recognition Memory (d-prime)
d' is a signal-detection sensitivity index-how well participants discriminate old (studied) from new (unstudied) items, independent of response bias. Computed as d' = Z(hit rate) - Z(false-alarm rate) from the old/new recognition memory test. Primary analysis is within-person Δhigh-confidence d' (based on "sure old" responses in the 4-point "sure old", "unsure old", "unsure new", "sure new" scale, Δ = active - sham) and Δoverall d' (based on "sure old" and "unsure old" responses). Main comparison is older vs. young, and within the older group also testing moderation by gut-brain axis measures and interactions with preclinical Alzheimer's disease pathology (pTau217, pTau181, Aβ42:40).
post-active vs post-sham stimulation; up to 2 hours of task
Eligibility Criteria

Eligible Ages
Adult, Older Adult
Minimum Age
18 Years
Eligible Sexes
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes
  • Ages 18-30 years or 65-80 years
  • Normal or corrected-to-normal vision (visual acuity)
  • Fluent in English

  • Pregnant
  • Symptoms of memory loss
  • History of a neurological, psychiatric, or medical condition that could affect cognition or preclude MRI or pupillometry
  • Use of medications known to alter cognition
  • For older adults, neuropsychological performance that falls outside 1.5 standard deviations of age-adjusted norms and no self-reported memory or attention complaints
Stanford University logoStanford University671 active trials to explore
National Institute on Aging (NIA) logoNational Institute on Aging (NIA)
Study Responsible Party
Anthony David Wagner, Principal Investigator, Professor, Department of Psychology, Stanford University
No contact data.
1 Study Locations in 1 Countries

California

Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, United States