Caloric vestibular stimulation for the management of motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease

Here we report the clinical and demographic data from a single site clinical trial which sought to evaluate the potential efficacy of caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) treatment for symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). 46 PD subjects on stable anti-Parkinsonian medications were randomized to received either active or placebo treatments. Subjects self-administered CVS at home twice-daily via a portable, pre-programmed, solid-state ThermoNeuroModulation device, which delivered continually-varying thermal waveforms through aluminum ear-probes mounted on a wearable headset. Subjects were followed over a 4-week baseline period, 8 weeks of treatment and then 5- and 24-weeks post-treatment At each study visit, standardized clinical assessments were conducted during ON-medication states to evaluate changes in motor and non-motor symptoms, activities of daily living and quality of life ratings. For additional interpretation, see Wilkinson et al., 2019 "Caloric vestibular stimulation for the management of motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease" (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2019.05.031).