Vestibular Stimulation to Treat Hemispatial Neglect

Stroke Clinical Trial

Official title: Noise Enhanced Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation in Hemispatial Neglect

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of the current proposal is to pilot a new and potentially improved treatment for neglect. The procedure involves the delivery of transcutaneous small-amplitude current to the vestibular nerves that lie directly below the mastoid bones.

Clinical Trial Description

The purpose of the current proposal is to pilot a new and potentially improved treatment for neglect. The procedure involves the delivery of transcutaneous small-amplitude current to the vestibular nerves that lie directly below the mastoid bones. With the intention of boosting activity in the damaged left hemisphere, positive and negative current is delivered to the left and right mastoids respectively. While successfully used to rehabilitate gait and balance disorders, the procedure has only once been applied to neglect.

In the present investigation, we will first confirm and then optimize the conditions under which galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) ameliorates neglect. This in turn will justify subsequent work (in a later funding cycle) that will demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the treatment on a much larger clinical scale, and merit the construction of a miniaturized portable device. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Hemispatial Neglect
• Perceptual Disorders
• Stroke

• NCT number: NCT00271388
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: VA Office of Research and Development
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 2006
• Completion date: December 2008