Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg

Music pre-processing methods are currently becoming a recognized area of research with the goal of making music more accessible to listeners with a hearing impairment. Our previous study showed that hearing-impaired listeners preferred spectrally manipulated multi-track mixes. Nevertheless, the acoustical basis of mixing for hearing-impaired listeners remains poorly understood. Here, we assess listeners’ ability to detect a musical target within mixes with varying degrees of spectral manipulations using the so-called EQ-transform. This transform exaggerates or downplays the spectral distinctiveness of a track with respect to an ensemble average spectrum taken over a number of instruments. In an experiment, 30 young normal-hearing (yNH) and 24 older hearing-impaired (oHI) participants with predominantly moderate to severe hearing loss were tested. The target that was to be detected in the mixes was from the instrument categories Lead vocals, Bass guitar, Drums, Guitar, and Piano. Our results show that both hearing loss and target category affected performance, but there were no main effects of EQ-transform. yNH performed consistently better than oHI in all target categories, irrespective of the spectral manipulations. Both groups demonstrated the best performance in detecting Lead vocals, with yNH performing flawlessly at 100% median accuracy and oHI at 92.5% (IQR = 86.3–96.3%). Contrarily, performance in detecting Bass was arguably the worst among yNH (Mdn = 67.5% IQR = 60–75%) and oHI (Mdn = 60%, IQR = 50–66.3%), with the latter even performing close to chance-levels of 50% accuracy. Predictions from a generalized linear mixed-effects model indicated that for every decibel increase in hearing loss level, the odds of correctly detecting the target decreased by 3%. Therefore, baseline performance progressively declined to chance-level at moderately severe degrees of hearing loss thresholds, independent of target category. The frequency domain sparsity of mixes and larger differences in target and mix roll-off points were positively correlated with performance especially for oHI participants (r = .3, p < .01). Performance of yNH on the other hand remained robust to changes in mix sparsity. Our findings underscore the multifaceted nature of selective listening in musical scenes and the instrument-specific consequences of spectral adjustments of the audio.

Zusammenfassung Diese Übersicht geht der Frage nach, ob laufende bevölkerungsrepäsentative Kohorten zukünftige Pandemieeffekte auf Menschen mit schweren psychischen Erkrankungen detektieren können. Literaturrecherche mit anschließender Analyse und Evaluation bezüglich relevanter Messungen und Kriterien. Keine der laufenden deutschen bevölkerungsbasierten Kohortenstudien inkludieren Personen mit schweren psychischen Störungen nach den gängigen diagnostischen Kriterien. Vier Kohorten umfassen Menschen mit schwerer Depressivität und Ängstlichkeit. Bevölkerungsrepräsentative Kohorten leisten keinen nennenswerten Beitrag zur schnellen Erfassung von zukünftigen Pandemieeffekten im Hinblick auf Menschen mit schweren psychischen Erkrankungen. Patientenkohorten erschienen geeigneter, um Erkenntnisse zum Schutz dieser vulnerablen Gruppe unter Pandemiebedingungen zu generieren. Diese gilt es aufzubauen und zu pflegen.

Partial migration is a phenomenon where migratory and resident individuals of the same species co‐exist within a population, and has been linked to both intrinsic (e.g., genetic) as well as environmental factors. Here we investigated the genomic architecture of partial migration in the common blackbird, a songbird that comprises resident populations in the southern distribution range, partial migratory populations in central Europe, and exclusively migratory populations in northern and eastern Europe. We generated whole‐genome sequencing data for 60 individuals, each of which was phenotyped for migratory behavior using radio‐telemetry tracking. These individuals were sampled across the species' distribution range, including resident populations (Spain and France), obligate migrants (Russia), and a partial migratory population with equal numbers of migratory and resident individuals in Germany. We estimated genetic differentiation (FST) of single‐nucleotide variants (SNVs) in 2.5 kb windows between all possible population and migratory phenotype combinations, and focused our characterization on birds from the partial migratory population in Germany. Despite overall low differentiation within the partial migratory German population, we identified several outlier regions with elevated differentiation on four distinct chromosomes. The region with the highest relative and absolute differentiation was located on chromosome 9, overlapping PER2, which has previously been shown to be involved in the control of the circadian rhythm across vertebrates. While this region showed high levels of differentiation, no fixed variant could be identified, supporting the notion that a complex phenotype such as migratory behavior is likely controlled by a large number of genetic loci.

Off-label hypomethylating agents and venetoclax (HMA/VEN) are often used for relapsed and refractory (R/R) AML patients. However, predictors of outcome are elusive. The objective of the current retrospective observational multicenter study of 240 adult patients (median age 68.6 years) with R/R AML was to establish a prognostic risk score. Overall response was documented in 106 (44%) patients. With a median follow-up of 31.5 months, 179 deaths were recorded. Median overall survival (mOS) was 7.9 months. In multivariate analysis of the subgroup with molecular information (n = 174), risk factors for inferior survival included the presence of extramedullary disease, HMA pretreatment and mutations in NF1, PTPN11, FLT3, and TP53, whereas mutated SF3B1 was identified as favorable risk factor. These risk factors were subsequently applied to construct an HR-weighted risk model that allocated patients to one of three risk groups with significantly different survival outcomes: favorable (n = 46; mOS 21.4 months), intermediate (n = 75; mOS 7.5 months), and adverse (n = 53; mOS 4.6 months; p < 0.001). The model was validated in 189 AML patients treated with HMA/VEN in first line. This clinical-molecular, 3-tiered venetoclax prognostic risk score (VEN-PRS) for HMA/VEN treatment outcomes in R/R AML patients will support the selection of appropriate treatment options in this high-risk population.

Zusammenfassung Die universitäre Lehre befindet sich im Umbruch. Steigende Studierendenzahlen sowie die voranschreitende Digitalisierung des Alltags führen auch in der Lehre zur Erprobung verschiedenster neuer Lehr- und Lernformate. Dieser Artikel gibt eine Übersicht über Hintergründe und Ansätze, die genutzt werden, um anatomischen Unterricht unter Einsatz digitaler Lernmethoden effektiv und effizient zu gestalten und den Erwartungen der Studierenden gerecht zu werden.

Mangroves are essential tropical ecosystems nurturing a wide range of marine biodiversity and counteracting global warming by sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide. Hence, the export mechanisms and fluxes of particulate and dissolved organic carbon and trace elements from mangroves directly influence coastal productivity, the global carbon cycle and thus global climate, which are, however, not well constrained. Here we find consistent radiogenic neodymium and hafnium isotopic compositions of porewater, sedimentary iron-manganese oxyhydroxides and coastal seawater, suggesting that the Amazonian mangrove belt supplies trace elements through porewater discharge, dissolution of iron-manganese oxyhydroxides and their interactions with seawater. Together, these processes supply 8.4 × 106 g yr⁻¹ dissolved neodymium, equivalent to 64% of the total sources of neodymium to the Amazonian coastal seawater. Globally, mangrove systems along the continental margins contribute 6–9% of the net neodymium input to the ocean, which is similar to the contributions from atmospheric deposition. A contribution of this magnitude is potentially also the case for other trace elements, given the strong correlations between neodymium and iron (Pearson r = 0.92), and manganese (r = 0.75) concentrations across the entire river-ocean section, emphasizing the crucial role of mangrove system inputs in micro-nutrient cycling.

While the giant anemone, Relicanthus daphneae, has been described as a characteristic inhabitant of the East Pacific Ocean since 1991, there are relatively few published occurrences worldwide. Here, we present the discovery and molecular verification of R. daphneae along the southern Central Indian Ridge, at the Rodriguez Triple Junction, and along the northern Southeast Indian Ridge within the BGR contract area for the exploration of marine massive sulphide deposits in the Indian Ocean. Individuals were solitary and attached exclusively to basalt hard substrates on the periphery of hydrothermal vent fields, at distances from active vents between 66 and 710 m. We report megafauna observed in close proximity to R. daphneae and, in one case, polychaetes on its tentacles and oral disc. For the first time, the giant anemone was observed capturing prey, a shrimp of the species Rimicaris kairei. Beyond this remark on the diet of these anemones, we also report other behavioural aspects for this species.

Purpose The self‐shielding radiosurgery system ZAP‐X consists of a 3 MV linear accelerator and eight round collimators. For this system, it is a common practice to perform the reference dosimetry using the largest 25 mm diameter collimator at a source‐to‐axis distance (SAD) of 45 cm with the PTW Semiflex3D chamber placed at a measurement depth of 7 mm in water. Existing dosimetry protocols do not provide correction for these measurement conditions. Therefore, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to quantify the associated beam quality correction factor kQmsr,Qreffmsr,fref$k_{{Q}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{Q}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}^{{f}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{f}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}$. Methods The kQmsr,Qreffmsr,fref$k_{{Q}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{Q}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}^{{f}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{f}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}$ of the Semiflex3D chamber was computed from the ratio of the absorbed doses in a water voxel and in the sensitive air volume of the chamber simulated using a ⁶⁰Co spectrum as the calibration beam quality (Qref) and the spectrum of the ZAP‐X 3 MV photon beam (Qmsr). kQmsr,Qreffmsr,fref$k_{{Q}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{Q}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}^{{f}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{f}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}$ was computed as a function of measurement depth from 4 to 50 mm. Furthermore, detailed simulations were performed to determine the individual chamber's perturbation correction factors by modifying the chamber's model step‐wise. Results All perturbation correction factors, except Sw,air ⋅Pfl, show depth‐dependent behavior up to a depth of 15 mm. In particular, the volume‐averaging Pvol and density Pdens perturbation correction factors and, consequently, the resulting gradient perturbation correction factor Pgr = Pvol∙Pdens increase with decreasing measurement depth. Therefore, kQmsr,Qreffmsr,fref$k_{{Q}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{Q}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}^{{f}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{f}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}$ is larger than unity, amounting to 1.0104±0.0072$1.0104\ \pm \ 0.0072$ at 7 mm measurement depth. At larger depths (> 15 mm), the kQmsr,Qreffmsr,fref=0.9964±0.0025$k_{{Q}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{Q}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}^{{f}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{f}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}} = 0.9964\ \pm \ 0.0025$ can be considered as constant. Conclusion At small measurement depths, kQmsr,Qreffmsr,fref$k_{{Q}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{Q}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}^{{f}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{f}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}$ was found to be depth‐dependent with values larger than unity due to the gradient‐related perturbation factors. Therefore, the uncertainty related to the chamber's positioning can be reduced by performing the reference dosimetry at ZAP‐X at depths larger than 15 mm, where kQmsr,Qreffmsr,fref$k_{{Q}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{Q}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}^{{f}_{{\mathrm{msr}}},{f}_{{\mathrm{ref}}}}$ can be regarded as depth independent.

This case study of Kongsfjorden, western coastal Svalbard, provides insights on how freshwater runoff from marine‐ and land‐terminating glaciers influences the biogeochemical cycles and distribution patterns of carbon, nutrients, and trace elements in an Arctic fjord system. We collected samples from the water column at stations along the fjord axis and proglacial river catchments, and analyzed concentrations of dissolved trace elements, together with dissolved nutrients, as well as alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon. Statistical tools were applied to identify and quantify biogeochemical processes within the fjord that govern the constituent distributions. Our results suggest that the glacier type affects nutrient availability and, therefore, primary production. Glacial discharge from both marine‐terminating glaciers and riverine discharge from land‐terminating glaciers are important sources of dissolved trace elements (dAl, dMn, dCo, dNi, dCu, and dPb) that are involved in biological and scavenging processes within marine systems. We identified benthic fluxes across the sediment‐water interface to supply fjord waters with silicate, dFe, dCu, and dZn. Our data show that intensive carbonate weathering in proglacial catchments supplies fjord waters with additional dissolved carbonates and, therefore, attenuates reduced buffering capacities caused by glacial runoff. Our study provides valuable insight into biogeochemical processes and carbon cycling within a climate‐sensitive, high‐latitude fjord region, which may help predict Arctic ecosystem changes in the future.

Objectives The objective of this web-based study is to analyze the attributes of bariatric surgery cases ensuing health implications. Additionally, the study seeks to delve into the factors influencing post-bariatric psychological evaluations and the impact of various bariatric surgeries on weight loss and psycho-social assessment scores for patients who had undergone bariatric surgeries within a specific bariatric surgery center in Egypt between January 2017 and January 2024. Methods An analytical cross-sectional study recruited 411 adults who had undergone different bariatric procedures by the same surgical team. We collected the data using a validated self-administered questionnaire that included the Body Image Scale (BIS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the quality-of-life score (QOLS), and the modified General Patient Satisfaction Score after Bariatric Surgeries (GSABS). Results The most commonly performed bariatric surgery was sleeve gastrectomy (SG), accounting for 82.7% of the procedures. The majority of the patients (78%) were female, with a mean age of 35.8. Among the participants, 32.4% reported experiencing complications, and 21.2% of those individuals were still experiencing complications at the time of assessment. The BIS had a mean score of 16.54 ± 6.27, indicating an average body image perception. The RSES yielded a mean score of 20.11 ± 4.63, indicating average self-esteem, while the GSABS had a mean score of 8.08 ± 2.39, indicating an overall average level of patient satisfaction. No statistically significant differences were found between the various types of bariatric surgeries in terms of total body weight loss percentage, excess body weight loss percentage, or the timing of the intervention. However, increased time intervals from surgeries noted a significant reduction in the BIS. Conclusion The majority of patients who underwent SG and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgeries exhibited high GSABS scores. SG patients also had high BIS scores. However, all other interventions showed normal GSABS and BIS scores. All types of surgeries resulted in normal RSES and QOLS. Furthermore, the BIS score increases with the intervention's recentness, but it significantly decreases after the second-year post-surgery. Conversely, the older the timing of the intervention, the higher the RSES score after surgery.

Background Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a condition, where individuals report persistent decline of cognitive abilities, even though this decline is not detectable by neuropsychological screenings. Individuals with SCD are at a higher risk of suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the future. It is important to better understand SCD to develop prevention measures, before a transition from a possible preclinical stage to MCI and AD. Method To get an insight into SCD symptomatology, focus group discussions with individuals affected by SCD were conducted. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment was done beforehand. Focus groups were audio‐recorded, transcribed and analyzed with MAXQDA. Content analysis was performed using inductive and deductive approaches. Result 4 group discussions with 16 participants in total (11 female, 5 male) were conducted. Although, a decline was reported for each cognitive domain (attention, memory, orientation, visuocognition, speech, executive functioning, learning), participants especially reported a decline of abilities typically impaired in AD: word‐finding, episodic memory and orientation, with declining word‐finding being amongst the first noticed symptoms, most frequently expressed and heavily affecting, as it leads to social withdrawal due to difficulties in conversations. Participants also frequently mentioned a declining prospective memory, short term memory and working memory. Individuals with SCD are especially concerned about a progression of decline and suffering from AD in the future. 9 participants already sought medical help due to SCD. Conclusion SCD as a possible preclinical stage of AD needs to be further researched. Although, individuals with SCD are experiencing impairments in their everyday life, they are not receiving support within the German health care system, as often no objectifiable cognitive impairments are detected by simple screening tools. Therefore, results of this study will be used to develop a questionnaire for measuring SCD. The aim is to develop an ambulatory SCD questionnaire to categorize the subjective feeling of cognitive decline and to identify subjects which should be assessed thoroughly.

Ecology and evolution are considered distinct processes that interact on contemporary time scales in microbiomes. Here, to observe these processes in a natural system, we collected a two-decade, 471-metagenome time series from Lake Mendota (Wisconsin, USA). We assembled 2,855 species-representative genomes and found that genomic change was common and frequent. By tracking strain composition via single nucleotide variants, we identified cyclical seasonal patterns in 80% and decadal shifts in 20% of species. In the dominant freshwater family Nanopelagicaceae, environmental extremes coincided with shifts in strain composition and positive selection of amino acid and nucleic acid metabolism genes. These genes identify organic nitrogen compounds as potential drivers of freshwater responses to global change. Seasonal and long-term strain dynamics could be regarded as ecological processes or, equivalently, as evolutionary change. Rather than as distinct interacting processes, we propose a conceptualization of ecology and evolution as a continuum to better describe change in microbial communities.

A comprehensive analysis of everyday sound perception can be achieved using Electroencephalography (EEG) with the concurrent acquisition of information about the environment. While extensive research has been dedicated to speech perception, the complexities of auditory perception within everyday environments, specifically the types of information and the key features to extract, remain less explored. Our study aims to systematically investigate the relevance of different feature categories: discrete sound-identity markers, general cognitive state information, and acoustic representations, including discrete sound onset, the envelope, and mel-spectrogram. Using continuous data analysis, we contrast different features in terms of their predictive power for unseen data and thus their distinct contributions to explaining neural data. For this, we analyse data from a complex audio-visual motor task using a naturalistic soundscape. The results demonstrated that the feature sets that explain the most neural variability were a combination of highly detailed acoustic features with a comprehensive description of specific sound onsets. Furthermore, it showed that established features can be applied to complex soundscapes. Crucially, the outcome hinged on excluding periods devoid of sound onsets in the analysis in the case of the discrete features. Our study highlights the importance to comprehensively describe the soundscape, using acoustic and nonacoustic aspects, to fully understand the dynamics of sound perception in complex situations. This approach can serve as a foundation for future studies aiming to investigate sound perception in natural settings. Significance Statement This study is an important step in our broader research endeavor, which aims to understand sound perception in everyday life. Although conducted in a stationary setting, this research provides foundational insights into necessary environmental information to obtain to understand concurrent neural responses. We delved into the analysis of various acoustic features, sound-identity labeling, and cognitive information, with the goal of refining neural models related to sound perception. Our findings particularly highlight the need for a thorough analysis and description of complex soundscapes. Our study provides key considerations for future research in sound perception across various contexts, from laboratory settings to mobile EEG technologies, and paves the way for investigations into more naturalistic environments, advancing the field of auditory neuroscience.

Background The implementation of computerised clinical decision support systems has the potential to enhance healthcare by improving patient safety, practitioner performance, and patient outcomes. Notwithstanding the numerous advantages, the uptake of clinical decision support systems remains constrained, thereby impeding the full realisation of their potential. To ensure the effective and successful implementation of these systems, it is essential to identify and analyse the reasons for their low uptake and adoption. This protocol outlines an umbrella review, which will synthesise the findings of existing literature reviews to generate a comprehensive overview of the barriers and facilitators to the implementation and adoption of decision support systems across healthcare settings. Methods This umbrella review protocol was developed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines. Searches for eligible articles will be conducted in four electronic bibliographic databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Web of Science. Obtained results will be independently screened by four reviewers based on pre-defined eligibility criteria. The risk of bias will be assessed for all eligible articles. Data on barriers and facilitators to the implementation and adoption of clinical decision support systems will be extracted, summarised, and further categorised into themes that aim to describe the originating environment or concept of the respective factor. The frequency of all identified barriers and facilitators within the group of included reviews will be determined in order to establish a prioritisation of the factors. Discussion This umbrella review protocol presents a methodology for the systematic synthesis of barriers and facilitators to the implementation and adoption of clinical decision support systems across healthcare settings. The umbrella review will enable the development of novel implementation and adoption strategies that reinforce the identified facilitators and circumvent barriers, thereby promoting the use-oriented evaluation and effective utilisation of clinical decision support systems. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42024507614

Preprocessing is necessary to extract meaningful results from electroencephalog-raphy (EEG) data. With many possible preprocessing choices, their impact on outcomes is fundamental. While previous studies have explored the effects of pre-processing on stationary EEG data, this research delves into mobile EEG, where complex processing is necessary to address motion artifacts. Specifically, we describe the preprocessing choices studies reported for analyzing the P3 event-related potential (ERP) during walking and standing. A systematic review of 258 studies of the P3 during walking, identified 27 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Two independent coders extracted preprocessing choices reported in each study. Analysis of preprocessing choices revealed commonalities and differences, such as the widespread use of offline filters but limited application of line noise correction (3 of 27 studies). Notably, 59% of studies involved manual processing steps, and 56% omitted reporting critical parameters for at least one step. All studies employed unique preprocessing strategies. These findings align with stationary EEG preprocessing results, emphasizing the necessity for standardized reporting in mobile EEG research. We implemented an interactive visualization tool (Shiny app) to aid the exploration of the preprocessing landscape. The app allows users to structure the literature regarding different processing steps, enter planned processing methods, and compare them with the literature. The app could be utilized to examine how these choices impact P3 results and understand the robustness of various processing options. We hope to increase awareness regarding the potential influence of preprocessing decisions and advocate for comprehensive reporting standards to foster reproducibility in mobile EEG research. K E Y W O R D S EEG, electroencephalography, mobile, preprocessing, shiny app, systematic literature review

Markov decision processes (MDPs) with rewards are a widespread and well-studied model for systems that make both probabilistic and nondeterministic choices. A fundamental result about MDPs is that their minimal and maximal expected rewards satisfy Bellmann’s optimality equations. For various classes of MDPs – notably finite-state MDPs, positive bounded models, and negative models – expected rewards are known to be the least solution of those equations. However, these classes of MDPs are too restrictive for probabilistic program verification. In particular, they assume that all rewards are finite. This is already not the case for the expected runtime of a simple probabilisitic program modeling a 1-dimensional random walk. In this paper, we develop a generalized least fixed point characterization of expected rewards in MDPs without those restrictions. Furthermore, we demonstrate how said characterization can be leveraged to prove weakest-preexpectation-style calculi sound with respect to an operational MDP model.

Low-latency configurable speech transmission presents significant challenges in modern communication systems. Traditional methods rely on separate source and channel coding, which often degrades performance under low-latency constraints. Moreover, non-configurable systems require separate training for each condition, limiting their adaptability in resource-constrained scenarios. This paper proposes a configurable low-latency deep Joint Source-Channel Coding (JSCC) system for speech transmission. The system can be configured for varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), wireless channel conditions, or bandwidths. A joint source-channel encoder based on deep neural networks (DNN) is used to compress and transmit analog-coded information, while a configurable decoder reconstructs speech from noisy compressed signals. The system latency is adaptable based on the input speech length, achieving a minimum latency of 2 ms, with a lightweight architecture of 25 k parameters, significantly fewer than state-of-the-art systems. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed system outperforms conventional separate source-channel coding systems in terms of speech quality and intelligibility, particularly in low-latency and noisy channel conditions. It also shows robustness in fixed configured scenarios, though higher latency conditions and better channel environments favor traditional coding systems.

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) offers a non-invasive method to enhance noradrenergic neurotransmission in the human brain, thereby increasing cognitive control. Here, we investigate if changes in cognitive control induced by tVNS are mediated through locus coeruleus-induced modifications of neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex. Young healthy participants engaged in a simple cognitive control task focusing on response inhibition and a more complex task that involved both response inhibition and working memory, inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The tasks were executed using a randomized within-subject design, with participants undergoing auricular tVNS and sham stimulation in separate sessions. tVNS significantly changed performance in the simple control task reflected in a greater propensity to respond. Furthermore, we observed a significant increase in neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex during the simple cognitive control task under tVNS. Functional connectivity analyses revealed positive coupling between neural activity in the locus coeruleus and anterior cingulate cortex, however, this was not modulated by tVNS. The findings suggest that non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve can modulate neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex. While these neural effects suggest an impact of tVNS in a key region involved in conflict monitoring and cognitive control, the behavioral effects are more indicative of a shift in response bias rather than enhanced cognitive control.

https://link.springer.com/book/9783658428624