Abstract
The therapy currently available for the treatment of degenerative neurological diseases is far from satisfactory, and a novel therapeutic strategy, especially for pharmacologically unresponsive patients, would be welcomed. The vestibular nerves are known to influence neuronal circuits in the medullary cardiovascular areas and, through the cerebellar vermis, the basal ganglia and the limbic system. By means of noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), it may now be possible to ameliorate blunted responsiveness of degenerated neuronal circuits in the brains of multiple system atrophy (MSA) and/or Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, through a mechanism known as stochastic resonance. We evaluate the effect of 24‐hour noisy GVS on long‐term heart rate dynamics in seven MSA patients, and on daytime locomotor activity dynamics in twelve patients with either PD or levodopa unresponsive parkinsonism. Short‐range heart rate variability and long‐range anti‐correlation of trunk activity are significantly increased by the noisy GVS compared with sham stimulation, suggestive of improved autonomic and motor responsiveness. The noisy GVS is effective in boosting the neuro‐degenerative brains of MSA and/or PD patients, including those unresponsive to standard levodopa therapy.
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