An interventional study of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation and Sham Control in Presbycusis, sponsored by University of Florida. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 55 Years to 80 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-20.
Sponsored by University of Florida · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
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.
66 studies on the registry are indexed under Presbycusis; 21 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 36 is below the median of 60 across 45 interventional studies indexed under Presbycusis.
Browse Presbycusis studies →University of Florida is the lead sponsor of 1,287 studies on the registry; 199 are open to participants now.
Of its 180 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 143 (79%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
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Exclusion Criteria:
participants will receive low level electrical stimulation to the auricular branch of the vagus nerve during the sound in noise task
Device: transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation
Participants will receive stimulation to a control location
Device: Sham Control
active electrical stimulation applied to the cymba conchae of the left ear
electrical stimulation applied to a location on the ear not innervated by the auricular vagus
Speech in noise performance
Percent correct on a speech in noise perception task in participants receiving Treatment A compared to Treatment B
Time frame: 2 weeks
Predictive value of audiometric testing
Scores on audiometric battery measures and how they differ in those receiving treatment A compared to those receiving treatment B
Time frame: 2 weeks
Predictive value of brain measures
Level of baseline GABA levels in primary auditory cortex prior to and following intervention in those receiving Treatment A compared to those receiving Treatment B
Time frame: 2 weeks
Ran from Dec 2025 to primary completion in Oct 2026, 10 months.
Of 25 interventional studies with no phase under Presbycusis, half reached primary completion within 29 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 11 and three quarters within 58. This study's 10 months is below that.
Since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026, the dates moved once, on Oct 20, 2026: primary completion Jul 2026 → Oct 2026 and completion Jul 2026 → Oct 2026.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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