Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-94d59 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T16:15:48.824Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Improvement of a face perception deficit via subsensory galvanic vestibular stimulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2005

DAVID WILKINSON
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, New England Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs, Boston Medical Center and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
PHILIP KO
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, New England Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs, Boston Medical Center and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
PATRICK KILDUFF
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, New England Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs, Boston Medical Center and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
REGINA McGLINCHEY
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, New England Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs, Boston Medical Center and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
WILLIAM MILBERG
Affiliation:
Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory, New England Geriatric Research, Education & Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs, Boston Medical Center and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Abstract

The remediative effect of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) was investigated in a patient who, following right hemisphere damage, is profoundly unable to recognize faces. We administered a two-alternative forced choice match-to-sample task in which the patient had to choose which of two faces matched a sample face presented directly above, while bipolar, transcutaneous current was applied to the left and right vestibular nerves at a level below the patient's sensory threshold. Performance improved beyond the chance-level observed prestimulation, and relied on reversing the electrode polarity across two separate blocks of trials, such that each mastoid received positive current for one block and then negative charge for the next. Although our study involved only a single case, the data provide preliminary evidence that a deficit in perceptual face matching can be reduced by GVS. This raises the intriguing possibility that other unilateral visual disorders may also respond in such a manner. (JINS, 2005, 11, 925–929.)

Type
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
Copyright
© 2005 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bense, S., Stephan, T., Yousry, T.A., Brandt, T., & Dieterich, M. (2001). Multisensory cortical signal increases and decreases during vestibular galvanic stimulation (fMRI). Journal of Neurophysiology, 85, 886899.Google Scholar
Bodamer, J. (1947). Die prosop-agnosie. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankenheiten, 179, 653.Google Scholar
Coats, A.C. (1972). Limit of normal of the galvanic body-sway test. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, 81, 410416.Google Scholar
de Gelder, B. & Rouw, R. (2001). Beyond localisation: A dynamical dual route account of face recognition. Acta Psychologica, 107, 183207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Renzi, E., Perani, D., Carlesimo, G.A., Silveri, M.C., & Fazio, F. (1994). Prosopagnosia can be associated with damage confined to the right hemisphere: An MRI and PET study and review of the literature. Neuropsychologia, 32, 893902.Google Scholar
Dieterich, M., Bense, S., Lutz, S., Drzezga, A., Stephan, T., Bartenstein, P., & Brandt, T. (2003). Dominance for vestibular cortical function in the non-dominant hemisphere. Cerebral Cortex, 13, 9941007.Google Scholar
Fink, G.R., Marshall, J.C., Weiss, P., Stephan, T., Grefkes, C., Shah, N.J., Zilles, K., & Dieterich, M. (2003). Performing allocentric visuo-spatial judgments with induced distortion of the egocentric reference frame: An fMRI study with clinical implications. NeuroImage, 20, 15051517.Google Scholar
Kerkhoff, G. (2003). Modulation and rehabilitation of spatial neglect by sensory stimulation. Progress in Brain Research, 142, 257271.Google Scholar
Kimberley, T.J., Lewis, S.M., Auerbach, E.J., Dorsey, L.L., Lojovich, J.M., & Carey, J.R. (2004). Electrical stimulation driving functional improvements and cortical changes in subjects with stroke. Experimental Brain Research, 154, 450460.Google Scholar
McGlinchey-Berroth, R., Milberg, W.P., Verfaellie, M., Alexander, M., & Kilduff, P. (1993). Semantic processing in the neglected visual field: Evidence from a lexical decision task. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 10, 79108.Google Scholar
Rhodes, G., Byatt, G., Michie, P.T., & Puce, A. (2004). Is the fusiform face area specialized for faces, individuation or expert individuation? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16, 189203.Google Scholar
Robertson, I.H. & Murre, J.M.J. (1999). Rehabilitation of brain damage: Brain plasticity and principles of guided recovery. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 544575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rorsman, I., Magnusson, M., & Johansson, B.B. (1999). Reduction of visuo-spatial neglect with vestibular galvanic stimulation. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 31, 117124.Google Scholar
Vallar, G., Guariglia, C., & Rusconi, M.L. (1997). Modulation of the neglect syndrome by sensory stimulation. In P. Thier & H.O. Karnath (Eds.), Parietal lobe contributions to orientation in 3D space. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
Volpe, B.T., Krebs, H.I., Hogan, N., Edelstein, O.L., Diels, C., & Aisen, M. (2000). A novel approach to stroke rehabilitation: Robot-aided sensorimotor stimulation. Neurology, 54, 19381944.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, D., Ko, P., Kilduff, P., McGlinchey, R., & Milberg, W. (2005). A case of prosopagnosia without object agnosia. Submitted.