Insomnia is a prevalent sleep disorder that may result in several conditions including:

• fatigue
• work inefficiency
• emotional instability increased
• risk of chronic diseases (cancer, cardiac diseases etc.)

Current treatments include the use of medical and alternative therapies; however the use of pharmaceuticals may lead to the development of adverse events.

At present the cause of primary insomnia is unknown, however it has been suggested that  by stimulating the parasympathetic system, and in particular activating the reticular structure (net-like structure of various brainstem nuclei and neurons and covers an expansive portion of the brainstem), would lead to slow-wave sleep (deep, regenerative sleep).

VNS would be beneficial as a potential treatment option to regulate sleep by altering the concentration of ϒ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), norepinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine. VNS increased the number of delta-sleep waves and prolonged the total night sleep time.

Some patients that have used taVNS as a treatment option have reported an improvement of sleep quality, prolonged average sleep latency, improved mood, decreased the degree of depression and overall improved the patient’s quality of life.

(Wu et al., 2022)