Enhancing rehabilitation of motor deficits with peripheral nerve stimulation

Issue title: Emerging Approaches in Rehabilitation after Brain Injury

Guest editors: Lumy Sawaki

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kaelin-Lang, Alain^{; *}

Affiliations: Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Berne University Hospital and University of Berne, Switzerland | Wake Forest University, Department of Neurology, Program in Rehabilitation, Winston Salem, NC, USA

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Alain Kaelin-Lang, Neurology Dept., University Hospital, Inselspital, CH-3010 Berne, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 31 632 21 11; Fax: +41 31 632 96 79; E-mail: alain.kaelin@dkf.unibe.ch

Abstract: A number of different neurorehabilitation strategies include manipulation of the somatosensory system, e.g. in the form of training by passive movement. Recently, peripheral electrical nerve stimulation has been proposed as a simple, painless method of enhancing rehabilitation of motor deficits. Several physiological studies both in animals and in humans indicate that a prolonged period of patterned peripheral electrical stimulation induces short-term plasticity at multiple levels of the motor system. Small-scale studies in humans indicate that these plastic changes are linked with improvement in motor function, particularly in patients with chronic motor deficits after stroke. Somatosensory-mediated disinhibition of motor pathways is a possible underlying mechanism and might explain why peripheral electrical stimulation is more effective when combined with active training. Further large-scale studies are needed to identify the optimal stimulation protocol and the patient groups that stand to benefit the most from this technique.

Keywords: Somatosensory stimulation, neurorehabilitation, stroke, motor deficits

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2008-23109

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 89-93, 2008