In crossover design with alternate assignment to order, 18 hyperkinetic children were treated with eyes-open rotational vestibular stimulation and with control contact, each eight times over 4-week periods. On behavioral ratings by teachers, they scored better after eight sessions of rotational stimulation than after eight control sessions. This treatment advantage was restricted to the ten children younger than age 10 without undersocialized-aggressive features. Few side effects occurred. Ratings by parents, but not by teachers. showed significant (p less than 0.05) placebo effect from the control situation. These findings suggest that vestibular stimulation be explored as a treatment modality for young children. The importance of concomitant visual stimulation needs to be investigated.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

Muscle relaxation therapy in hyperkinesis: is it effective?

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗

PubMed1978

A survey study of the use of electropupillogram in predicting response to psychostimulants.

To confirm the conclusions from a previous study supporting the usefullness of electropupillogram (E.P.G.) in predicting clinical response, data from three separate studies with hyperkinetic and learning disabled (L.D.) children treated with stimulants were surveyed. Change in extent of pupillary contraction (E.C.) after a test dose of stimulant as measured by E.P.G. did not correlate significantly with actual clinical rating change (with one exception out of 14 correlations calculated). These negative results are reported with a reservation regarding their validity because of technical difficulties in data collection.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral and nystagmus response of a hyperkinetic child to vestibular stimulation.

A five-year-old boy, referred for hyperkinetic behavior, was tested for vestibular function before and after a four-week regime of controlled semicircular canal stimulation. Hyperkinetic behavior was assessed both during and after the four-week treatment period. Initial testing showed that semicircular canal function was normal, but that two measurable central nervous system mechanisms representing integration of the sensory signal were not at a normal level. Behavioral instruments demonstrated an improvement in symptoms of hyperkinetic behavior. It is postulated that the behavioral improvement resulted from an increase in task-relevant arousal in the reticular formation, accompanied by increased cortical inhibition.

Child Behavior↗