Recruiting

taVNS

Sponsor:

University of Florida

Code:

NCT07192757

Conditions

Presbycusis

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 55 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation

Sham Control

Study Details

Brief summary:

Hearing loss, especially for speech perception in the presence of noise, may lead older individuals to withdraw from social situations. While hearing aids help amplify sound and are useful in many situations, they can be ineffective in noisy contexts. The proposed pilot study will evaluate taVNS for improving speech in noise perception in adults with age-related hearing loss.

Conditions

Presbycusis

Study ID

NCT07192757

Start date

Dec 1, 2025

Status verified date

Aug, 2025

Completion date

Jul 30, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jul 30, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 55 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults 55-80 years old
  • Normal hearing or age-related hearing loss (with or without hearing aids)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of traumatic brain injury or noise trauma
  • Implanted medical devices (eg., pacemaker) or ferrous metal
  • Known history of heart conditions
  • Medications that impact neurotransmitters released by vagus nerve stimulation

Study Design

Enrollment

36 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Treatment A

participants will receive low level electrical stimulation to the auricular branch of the vagus nerve during the sound in noise task

active comparator: Treatment B

Participants will receive stimulation to a control location

Interventions

transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation

active electrical stimulation applied to the cymba conchae of the left ear

Sham Control

electrical stimulation applied to a location on the ear not innervated by the auricular vagus

Primary outcome measure

  • Speech in noise performance [ Time Frame: 2 weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Tracy Centanni, PhD

3522948675tracy.centanni@phhp.ufl.edu

Locations

UF Health at the University of Florida

Recruiting

Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610

Contacts

Tracy Centanni, Ph.D.

352-294-8675tracy.centanni@phhp.ufl.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Florida

Last update posted

Dec 5, 2025

Last verified

Aug, 2025

Keywords

  • age-related hearing loss
  • taVNS
  • vagus nerve stimulation
  • presbycusis
  • hearing aids

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-07. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Florida on 2025-12-05. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.