The effect of vestibular stimulation on postural instability in patients with Parkinson's disease

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24650323
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Aomori University of Health and Welfare
• Principal Investigator: KANNARI Kazuya 青森県立保健大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (20241466)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KUROSAWA Tadateru 八戸工業高等専門学校, その他部局等, 講師 (40259792) ; IWATSUKI Hiroyasu 青森県立保健大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (50184891) ; OZAKI Isamu 青森県立保健大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (90242463)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: パーキンソン病 / 全身振動 / 自動ロッキングチェア / 前庭系

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to investigate the effects of whole body vibration on the human body, we developed an automatic rocking chair. The most important result was that patients with Parkinson’s disease showed a significant improvement in motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease after receiving whole body vibration on the automatic rocking chair under a condition of 0.3 Hz in frequency. These results suggest that whole body vibration therapy with a slow frequency is effective in improving motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Comparative studies to search for appropriate parameters when using a rocking chair are needed, thereby, enhancing beneficial effects of whole body vibration in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Free Research Field

神経内科学