How does vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) treat depression?

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a procedure that may help treat depression by electrically stimulating the parts of your brain that affect mood. Your doctor may recommend VNS if traditional depression treatments and electroconvulsive therapy have failed to relieve your symptoms.

With VNS, you first undergo surgery to place a device called a pulse generator into your chest. A wire attached to the device is pushed under your skin and attached in the neck area to the vagus nerve, which runs to the brain. The VNS device sends safe, regular electrical pulses to the nerve to stimulate brain areas that control mood.