Article

A sham-stimulation-controlled study. Disturbed arm position sense (APS) is a frequent and debilitating
condition in patients with hemiparesis after stroke.
Patients with neglect, in
particular, show a significantly impaired contralesional APS. Currently, there is
no treatment available for this disorder. Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS)
may ameliorate neglect and extinction by activating the thalamocortical network.
OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate the immediate effects and
aftereffects (AEs; 20 minutes) of subsensory, bipolar GVS (M = 0.6 mA current
intensity) on APS in stroke patients with versus without spatial neglect and
matched healthy controls. METHODS: A novel optoelectronic arm position device was
developed, enabling the precise measurement of the horizontal APS of both arms.
In all, 10 healthy controls, 7 patients with left-sided hemiparesis and
left-spatial neglect, and 15 patients with left hemiparesis but without neglect
were tested. Horizontal APS was measured separately for both forearms under 4
experimental conditions (baseline without GVS, left-cathodal/right-anodal GVS,
right-cathodal/left-anodal GVS, sham GVS). The immediate effects during GVS and
the AEs 20 minutes after termination of GVS were examined. RESULTS: Patients with
neglect showed an impaired contralateral APS in contrast to patients without
neglect and healthy controls. Left-cathodal/right-anodal GVS improved left APS
significantly, which further improved into the normal range 20 minutes
poststimulation. GVS had no effect in patients without neglect but
right-cathodal/left-anodal GVS worsened left APS in healthy participants
significantly. CONCLUSIONS: GVS can significantly improve the impaired APS in
neglect. Multisession GVS can be tested to induce enduring therapeutic effects.

Langue : ANGLAIS