Using an electrical device to send ‘tickling’ impulses into someone’s ear could help them stay healthier into old age, scientists say.
Stimulating the vagus nerve through the skin of the head may kick-start a person’s resting nervous system and vital digestive processes which get weaker with age.
And doing this may reduce the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease or an irregular heartbeat, according to researchers.
Just 15 minutes per day proved long enough to have the desired effects on over-55s in a study, which the scientists called a ‘great response’.
Volunteers had their vagus nerve – which is key to regulating the body’s vital ‘rest and digest’ phases – stimulated with electrical currents sent through their ear. The impulses were painless but may produce a tickling sensation (Pictured: An unnamed volunteer)
Experts from the University of Leeds trialled the transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) on 29 healthy volunteers.
They found it boosted activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, which controls heart rate and the digestive system.
And some of the volunteers said their sleep and mental health improved while they were using the treatment.
This nervous system typically gets less effective as people age, making them more likely to develop heart problems – and tVNS may be able to reverse this.
‘The ear is like a gateway through which we can tinker with the body’s metabolic balance without the need for medication or invasive procedures,’ said Dr Beatrice Bretherton.
‘We believe these results are just the tip of the iceberg.
‘We are excited to investigate further into the effects and potential long-term benefits of daily ear stimulation, as we have seen a great response to the treatment so far.’
The sympathetic nerve system, which controls the fight or flight stress response, begins to overwhelm the resting parasympathetic nervous system as people get older. Scientists think using electricity to stimulate the vagus nerve could boost the parasympathetic system
The volunteers were taught to use the stimulation devices themselves at home. The study found 15 minutes per day was enough to move towards rebalancing their nervous system
The tVNS treatment works by try to restore the balance of the nervous system to resemble that of a younger person.
In healthy people there is generally an even balance between nerves which control someone’s ‘fight or flight’ response and those that dictate the ‘rest and digest’ state – the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, respectively.
As people get older the sympathetic nervous system – fight or flight – overpowers the other one and can make people’s hearts and digestion less effective.
Using tVNS to stimulate the vagus nerve, which is essentially a control centre for the parasympathetic system, could restore this balance, scientists believe.
Stimulating the vagus nerve has in the past been explored as a way of treating depression, epilepsy, tinnitus, stroke, heart conditions or obesity.
In the Leeds study the volunteers had nerve stimulation through their ear – which some felt as a tickling sensation – for 15 minutes per day for two weeks.
They found people’s nervous stress response decreased and their resting response increased, which researchers said could reduce their need for medications or hospital visits.
People who had a bigger gap between the two types of nerve activity were the ones who benefited most from the treatment.
Dr Susan Deuchars, one of the senior authors on the study, said: ‘We believe this stimulation can make a big difference to people’s lives, and we’re now hoping to conduct further studies to see if tVNS can benefit multiple disorders.’
Lancaster University’s Dr David Clancy, who was not involved with the research, said tests needed to be done to compare the effects with a placebo.
He said: ‘It would have been useful to measure responses to treatment versus sham here, because the people who took part were sat in a quiet, temperature controlled room, and were reclined semi-supine on a couch for the duration of each experiment.
‘I suspect many of us may have found our relaxation and wellbeing improved under such conditions!’
The research was published in the medical journal Aging.