前庭神経の経皮的微弱ランダム電流刺激による神経疾患の治療の試み

抄録

By means of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), it might be possible to ameliorate the blunted responsiveness of degenerated neuronal circuits in patients with degenerative neurological diseases. We evaluated the effects of 24-hour noisy GVS on the long-term heart rate dynamics in patients with multiple system atrophy and on the daytime trunk activity dynamics in patients with either levodopa-responsive Parkinson's disease or levodopa-unresponsive parkinsonism patients. Patients were also examined for cognitive performance by means of a continuous performance test. Short-range or high-frequency fluctuations of the heart rate were significantly increased by the noisy GVS as compared with that by sham stimulation, suggestive of improved autonomic, especially parasympathetic, responsiveness. The long-range anti-persistency of trunk activity patterns probed by an autocorrelation measure was significantly increased by the noisy GVS, suggestive of quickening of bradykinesic rest-to-active transitions. The mean reaction time in the continuous performance test was also significantly decreased by the noisy GVS, without significant changes in either the omission or commission error ratios, which is suggestive of improved motor execution during the cognitive task. Thus, noisy GVS improved the motor and autonomic responsiveness and is effective for ameliorating the symptoms in patients with multiple system atrophy or Parkinson's disease.