title: Lasting amelioration of spatial neglect by treatment with neck muscle vibration even without concurrent training.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It has been shown recently that neck muscle vibration in combination with an exploration training leads to lasting amelioration of spatial neglect. The present study evaluated whether vibration of the left posterior neck muscles alone has the potential to induce lasting reduction in spatial neglect.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multiple baseline design was used to control for spontaneous recovery or uncontrolled change caused by external events.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six patients with spatial neglect following right hemisphere stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  Daily vibration treatment of the left posterior neck muscles for 20 minutes on 10 consecutive days. During vibration, patients did not perform any specific activities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed significant amelioration of spatial neglect after terminating the vibration therapy. The improvement was found to be stable at follow-up testing about 1.4 years later.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vibration of the left posterior neck muscles is a useful, non-invasive tool supplementing the established methods of spatial neglect treatment. It does not necessarily require the patient's co-operation, which is an important advantage especially in the early phases of rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany. Leif.Johannsen@uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Johannsen
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ackermann
authors.forename: Hans-Otto
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Karnath
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009334:Neck Muscles; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D020127:Recovery of Function; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D014732:Vibration / Q000627:therapeutic use*