Max Zasuly, n/a
Medical Student Researcher
Western University of Health Sciences/Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Santa Monica, California, United States
Benjamin Zhang, n/a
Research Associate
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Kevin Lim, n/a
Medical Student Researcher
Drexel University College of Medicine/Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Jeanette R. Gumarang, MSN, RN
Research Nurse
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Niko Fullmer, n/a
Research Project Supervisor
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Sara Delgado, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Natasha Wolhein, OTR
Occupational Therapist
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Curren E. Giberson, MD
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Neha S. Dhadwal, DO
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
James Lieu, DO
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
David Patterson, MD
Associate Program Director of PM&R
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Justin Phillips, MD, FAAPMR
Program Director of PM&R
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Caroline Schnakers, PhD
Associate Director, Research Institute
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Preston Hatch, DO
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Elliott Block, DO
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare
Pomona, California, United States
Patients admitted to an inpatient acute rehabilitation unit received around 45 minutes of taVNS during physical or occupational therapy 5 days a week for 2 weeks (10 sessions). Resting-state electroencephalograms (EEGs) have been recorded before the first and after the last session. Motor function has been assessed with the Fugl-Myer Assessment for Upper Extremity (FMA-U), with cognitive function assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) in parallel to EEG pre-post taVNS.
Results: In this ongoing study, seven patients post-stroke (5 ischemic; 7-19 days post-injury), aged 37-75 (5 males), have been enrolled. Using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, preliminary analyses revealed significant increases in Total FMA-U scores and hand/finger movements subscores (i.e.,C) following taVNS with mean improvements of 9.1% (p=0.017) and 11.2% (p=0.05), respectively. EEG analyses using Spearman's rank correlation revealed increases in theta/alpha activity in the bilateral parietal region (r = 0.883, p = 0.02), as well as increases in theta activity in the left temporal region (r = 0.883, p = 0.02) significantly correlated with improvements in Total FMA-U. Significant improvement in the Visuospatial/Executive section of the MOCA (p=0.044) was noted without any EEG correlations.
Conclusions: Preliminary results suggest taVNS may be beneficial in improving motor recovery (upper extremity), and executive functioning. More importantly, results indicate that motor improvements following taVNS might be related to brain activity changes in temporo-parietal areas. Changes in alpha waves within parietal regions are particularly interesting since it is usually related to motor activity. However, a bigger sample is needed to confirm these results.
