An electronic device that delivers "noise" to a part of the brain appears to help people with Parkinson's disease keep their balance. The device delivers a tiny electrical signal to the centers of balance in the brain through patches that are placed just behind the patient's ears.
This device does not require surgical implantation of a nerve stimulator into the brain, as is done with deep brain stimulation, which is a treatment for severe Parkinson's. The patches deliver a small electrical charge through the skin to the vestibular system of the brain, the part that controls balance, which can be an issue with people who have Parkinson's disease. In practice, the device is similar to the device used in transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy, which is used for pain relief.
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden tested the device on ten patients with Parkinson's disease in a double-blind study. Patients were treated with either vestibular stimulation or a sham treatment where no stimulation was delivered on alternate days and were given balance tests. The treatment was tested when the patients were using levodopa, the most commonly used drug for Parkinson's disease, and without it.
The tests showed that the electric stimulation improved patients' balance and other symptoms. The stimulation helped patients correct their balance in tests and decreased the amount that they swayed when their eyes were closed. The combination of levodopa and stimulation worked best at helping with balance.
Patients could not tell when the stimulation was being delivered to the patches and when it was not, outside of improving their balance.
One of the problems with Parkinson's is that levodopa stops working for patients as their disease progresses. Worse, the drug starts causing involuntary movements called dyskinesia.
The study was published in the journal Brain Stimulation.