Effects of vestibular rehabilitation combined with transcranial cerebellar direct current stimulation in patients with chronic dizziness: An exploratory study

Abstract

Background: Vestibular rehabilitation is useful to alleviate chronic dizziness in patients with vestibular dysfunction. It aims to induce neuronal plasticity in the central nervous system (especially in the cerebellum) to promote vestibular compensation. Transcranial cerebellar direct current stimulation (tcDCS) reportedly enhances cerebellar function.

Objective/hypothesis: We investigated whether vestibular rehabilitation partially combined with tcDCS is superior to the use of rehabilitation alone for the alleviation of dizziness.

Methods: Patients with chronic dizziness due to vestibular dysfunction received rehabilitation concurrently with either 20-min tcDCS or sham stimulation for 5 days. Pre- and post-intervention (at 1 month) dizziness handicap inventory (DHI) scores and psychometric and motor parameters were compared.

Results: Sixteen patients completed the study. DHI scores in the tcDCS group showed significant improvement over those in the sham group (Mann-Whitney U test, p = 0.033).

Conclusion: Vestibular rehabilitation partially combined with tcDCS appears to be a promising approach.

Keywords: Chronic dizziness; Motor learning; Transcranial cerebellar direct current stimulation; Vestibular rehabilitation.