title: Cervical dystonia responsive to acoustic and galvanic vestibular stimulation.
abstract: We examined the effects of acoustic and galvanic vestibular stimulation in a patient with cervical dystonia. Acoustic stimulation consisted of three conditions: "baseline" (no stimulation), "vestibular" (500 Hz bone-conducted tone bursts), and "control" (5,000 Hz tone bursts). Rectified electromyographic activity in the sternocleidomastoid was measured. Galvanic stimulation (1.5-2.5 mA current steps) was delivered to the mastoids, and head acceleration was measured. Vestibular acoustic stimulation reduced neck muscle activity between 16% and 44% (P < 0.001), and galvanic stimulation reduced head acceleration by 22.5% (P = 0.028). The patient reported subjective improvement in head control. Vestibular stimulation can reduce neck muscle activity in cervical dystonia and give symptomatic relief.
authors.affiliation: UNSW Clinical School and Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Randwick, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Sally M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rosengren
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Colebatch
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001844:Bone Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000294:innervation*; D014103:Torticollis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000503:physiopathology*