Effects of Cranial-Nerve Non-Invasive Neuromodulation (CN-NINM) on Neural Activity as Measured by BOLD-FMRI

¹Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; ²Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; ³Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; ⁴Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; ⁵Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

Neurostimulation through the tongue provides a non-invasive route to modulate activity within the brainstem and higher cortical areas. This study investigated the residual changes in neural activity after the stimulation has been removed in patients with vestibular dysfunction in response to optical flow. We found long-term neuromodulation of the dorsal pons that may explain the lasting symptomatic improvement seen in vestibular patients after neurostimulation through the tongue.