Effects of unilateral neck muscle vibration on subjective postural vertical

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K24320
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0909:Sports sciences, physical education, health sciences, and related fields
• Research Institution: Juntendo University
• Principal Investigator: Fujino Yuji 順天堂大学, 保健医療学部, 講師 (00847155)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 主観的身体垂直認知 / 振動刺激 / バランス / 脳卒中

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of proprioceptive stimulation by neck muscle vibration (NMV) on the subjective postural vertical (SPV) in the frontal plane.
The results showed that in data from 48 healthy adults, NMV did not affect SPV tilt direction. For the variability was significantly reduced during and after NMV. In 20 stroke patients, there was no significant difference in the tilt direction, whereas the variability was only reduced during NMV. These results suggest that NMV-induced SPV alterations have a similar tendency to those in healthy adults.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、健常成人ならびに脳卒中患者を対象に、後頚部への振動刺激が身体平衡にかかわる認知的側面に影響するかを検証した。その結果、振動刺激によって垂直の判断精度が改善することが示唆された。
このことは、加齢や脳卒中後のバランス障害に対し、従来の身体的な側面に対するリハビリテーションだけでなく、バランスに関与する認知的側面に対する治療手段として応用できる可能性があると考えられる。