TAC-STIM

Made in the USA

ENHANCING FORCE
READINESS

Biotechnology Enhanced
Performance with

TAC-STIM (nVNS)

Tac-Stim

ENHANCING FORCE READINESS:

Biotechnology Enhanced Performance with TAC-STIM (nVNS)

Goals1-3

tacstim training

TRAINING

Accelerate training and knowledge acquisition

• Accelerate skill attainment
• Superior retention
• Lower washout rates
• Increase training throughput
• Address workforce shortages

tacstim mission

MISSION

Sustain, optimize, and enhance task performance

• Elevate vigilance, accuracy and threat detection
• Eliminate/minimize performance degradation
• Decrease fatigue
• Mitigate operational stress

tacstim recovery

RECOVERY

Restore abilities to baseline

• Improve resilience
• Reduce downtime
• Maintain operational readiness
• Optimize warfighter brain health

The technology - TAC-STIM™

TAC-STIM™ is a portable device that is being designed specifically for use by the Military. It stimulates the vagus nerve, only needs a few minutes to administer, and has long-lasting benefits.

tac-stim version 2
tac-stim nvns

Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation (nVNS)

The vagus nerve projects to the brain, where it modulates multiple neural connections and the balance of key neurotransmitters involved in learning and memory, motivational and emotional states, and pain and inflammation. TAC-STIM (nVNS) activates the vagus nerve with mild pulses of electrical energy delivered to the neck.

Why TAC-STIM™

Warfighters undergo intensive, fast-paced training that causes fatigue. Sleep deprivation and fatigue lead to slower reaction times, reduced ability to multitask, and increased lapses of attention.4
Prolonged military operations in harsh and adverse conditions can compromise the perceptual, cognitive, and emotional resources necessary to sustain performance on mission-related tasks across operational units.2
Cognitive neuroenhancement tools and techniques, such as TAC-STIM, that can accelerate training, sustain attention, reduce fatigue, and improve mood are being explored by various Military units and is considered a critical need to promote readiness and performance across the force.5
TAC-STIM can offer benefits in many areas related to mission performance enhancement and optimization. nVNS has been shown to facilitate learning and memory,6-9 enhance multiple elements of cognition, such as arousal, attention, multi-tasking, decision-making, and memory,4,6,10,11 improve the ability to learn a new language,12,13 boost mood after prolonged periods of activity,14 and improve fatigue and sleepiness.15
electroCore™, the manufacturer of TAC-STIM, is a part of multiple collaborative research and grant efforts to demonstrate ways that nVNS can improve performance, combat fatigue without negative side effects, and accelerate training.
Tac-stim Timeline

Force and Mission Relevant Results

TAC-STIM Enhances ISR Synthetic Aperture Radar Training16

radar training
  • TAC-STIM improved target identification accuracy and change detection accuracy without affecting speed of target identification
  • Benefit was retained upto 90 days post-stimulation

TAC-STIM Improves Cognitive Skill After Sleep Deprivation4

sleep deprivation
  • Long-lasting benefit for multitasking activites
  • Active group performed siginificantly better on the PVT task
  • TAC-STIM-treated participants reported less fatigue and more energy

TAC-STIM Boosts Mood and Performance During ISR FMV Training17

fmv training
  • Active group demonstrated improved FMV-related tasks
  • TAC-STIM boosted mood ratings; trainees were significantly more energetic and more able to perform training tasks

TAC-STIM improves Difficult Language Recall and Recognition18

arabic graph
  • Arabic recall rate was significantly improved with TAC-STIM
  • Enhanced acquisition of a difficult vocabulary
  • TAC-STIM boosted mood despite rigorous training environment

*p≤0.05; **p≤0.01
Abbreviations: FMV, full motion video; ISR, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; PVT, psychomotor vigilance test

TAC-STIM in the Field

TAC-STIM has the potential to mitigate multiple challenges. There is substantial need to accelerate training and improve performance across the force.

  •  The demand for ISR analysts to support ongoing operations has grown exponentially over the past decade in the face of analyst attrition due to operational burnout.18
  • The Air Force is attempting to accelerate pilot production while helping airmen retain more information to overcome the serious pilot shortage.19
  • Foreign language skills and cultural expertise are critical capabilities needed by today’s military to face the challenges of our present security environment.20

Completed research demonstrates that TAC-STIM offers utility in military training environments. Additional research and training efforts are underway to further examine the benefits of TAC-STIM in other deployment environments, such as active mission support and post-mission recovery.

Training

Foreign Language Initial Acquisition Program
School Houses
Special Ops training
Other specific training environments

Mission Support

Preparation
Increase vigilance
Decrease fatigue
Improve performance

Post mission

After action debrief
Facilitate decompression
Learning consolidation
Physical and mental restoration

Eric J. Liebler
Phone: 908-938-9780
eric.liebler@electrocore.com
www.electrocore.com

Electrocore

REFERENCES

  1. Brunye TT, Beaudoin ME, Feltman KA, et al. Neuroenhancement in Military Personnel: Conceptual and Methodological Promises and Challenges. February 4, 2022. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1159590.pdf.
  2. Boosting Synaptic Plasticity to Accelerate Learning. March 16, 2016. Accessed February 20, 2023. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2016-03-16.
  3. Bowman B, Leitzke B. Avoiding empty cockpits: Addressing the Air Force’s pilot shortage problem. August 25, 2022. Accessed February 20, 203. https://breakingdefense.com/2022/08/avoiding-empty-cockpits-addressing-the-air-forces-pilot-shortage-problem/.
  4. McIntire LK, McKinley RA, Goodyear C, McIntire JP, Brown RD. Cervical transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (ctVNS) improves human cognitive performance under sleep deprivation stress. Commun Biol. Jun 10 2021;4(1):634. doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02145-7
  5. Brunyé TT, Brou RJ, Doty TJ, et al. A Review of US Army Research Contributing to Cognitive Enhancement in Military Contexts. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement. 2020:1-16.
  6. Sun L, Perakyla J, Holm K, et al. Vagus nerve stimulation improves working memory performance. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. Dec 2017;39(10):954-964. doi:10.1080/13803395.2017.1285869
  7. Clark KB, Naritoku DK, Smith DC, Browning RA, Jensen RA. Enhanced recognition memory following vagus nerve stimulation in human subjects. Nat Neurosci. Jan 1999;2(1):94-8. doi:10.1038/4600
  8. Boon P, Moors I, De Herdt V, Vonck K. Vagus nerve stimulation and cognition. Seizure. Jun 2006;15(4):259-63. doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2006.02.014
  9. Sanders TH, Weiss J, Hogewood L, et al. Cognition-Enhancing Vagus Nerve Stimulation Alters the Epigenetic Landscape.
    J Neurosci. May 1 2019;39(18):3454-3469. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2407-18.2019
  10. Martin CO, Denburg NL, Tranel D, Granner MA, Bechara A. The effects of vagus nerve stimulation on decision-making.
    Cortex. Sep-Dec 2004;40(4-5):605-12. doi:10.1016/s0010-9452(08)70156-4
  11. Sjogren MJ, Hellstrom PT, Jonsson MA, Runnerstam M, Silander HC, Ben-Menachem E. Cognition-enhancing effect of
    vagus nerve stimulation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: a pilot study. J Clin Psychiatry. Nov 2002;63(11):972-80. doi:10.4088/jcp.v63n1103
  12. Llanos F, McHaney JR, Schuerman WL, Yi HG, Leonard MK, Chandrasekaran B. Non-invasive peripheral nerve stimulation selectively enhances speech category learning in adults. NPJ Sci Learn. 2020;5:12. doi:10.1038/s41539-020-0070-0
  13. Phillips I, Calloway RC, Karuzis VP, Pandza NB, O’Rourke P, Kuchinsky SE. Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Strengthens Semantic Representations of Foreign Language Tone Words during Initial Stages of Learning.
    J Cogn Neurosci. Dec 6 2021;34(1):127-152. doi:10.1162/jocn_a_01783
  14. Ferstl M, Teckentrup V, Lin WM, et al. Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation boosts mood recovery after effort exertion. Psychol Med. Oct 2022;52(14):3029-3039. doi:10.1017/S0033291720005073
  15. Tynan A, Brines M, Chavan SS. Control of inflammation using non-invasive neuromodulation: past, present and promise.
    Int Immunol. Jan 22 2022;34(2):119-128. doi:10.1093/intimm/dxab073
  16. McIntire LK, McKinley RA, Goodyear C. Peripheral Nerve Stimulation to Augment Human Analyst Performance. IEEE Research and Applications of Photonics in Defense Conference (RAPID), Miramar Beach, FL, USA (IEEE, 2019).
  17. Data on file: United States Air Force Reseach Laboratory.
  18. Miyatsu T, Oviedo V, Reynaga J, et al. Transcutaneous Cervical Vagus Nerve Stimulation Enhances Second-Language Vocabulary Acquisition While Simultaneously Mitigating Fatigue and Promoting Focus. Presented at the Annual Meeting of
    the American Academy of Neurology; April 23, 2023; Boston, MA.
  19. Langley J. Occupational burnout and retention of Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) intelligence personnel. [Doctoral dissertation]. Santa Monica, A: Pardee RAND Graduate School; 2012.
  20. Cohen RS. Can the Air Force train nearly 1,500 pilots this year? December 1, 2022. Accessed February 20, 2023.
    https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/12/01/can-the-air-force-train-nearly-1500-pilots-this-year/.
  21. Robb DJ, Neese BH, Aghajanian C. Linking Foreign Language Capabilities with Expeditionary Requirements. July 1, 2021. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/2680054/linking-foreign-language-capabilities-with-expeditionary-requirements/.

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