THROUGH THE STIMULATION OF MUSCLE SPINDLES AND THE PROPRIOCEPTIVE SYSTEM, THE
- Improves muscle function and normalises muscle tone.
- Loss of bone density counteracted. OSD-EV.org
- Counteracts loss of strength due to muscle atrophy.
- Supports orthostatic blood pressure regulation
- Spasticity is reduced
- improves motor control
- Postural control is improved
- Vigilance and consciousness are challenged
The method of vibration training in intensive care medicine is based on the results of the Russian sports scientist and biomechanist Prof. Dr. Nazarov. Under the term Biomechanical (Muscle) Stimulation (BMS) or Rhythmic Neuromuscular Stimulation (RNS), Nazarov attempted to reduce the muscle atrophy in cosmonauts caused by their stay in weightlessness by applying mechanical vibrations at the end of the 1970s, which he also succeeded in doing.
Prof. Gerstenbrand 2012:
“In Moscow, a so-called “pressure shoe” is already being produced for stimulation of the sole of the foot, and we are also developing a stimulation shoe. Our research group has found a new system for measuring foot sole stimulation. A foot sole vibration immediately causes an increased blood flow in the corresponding sensorimotor areas. Not only on the opposite side, but also on the same side for stimulation. The thalamus, the control centre of the brain, is also activated, as are the frontal brain and the temporal lobe. The method of functional MRI, applicable also in Parkinson’s disease and apallic syndrome, was used for the study, and also for prognosis.”
ACTIVATION OF THE THALAMUS
Activation of the thalamus, frontal lobe and temporal lobes by local vibration has been demonstrated in multiple studies.
- The thalamus controls our motor function
- the orbitofrontal cortex (frontal lobe) is responsible, among other things, for drive, attention and concentration → vigilance
- the temporal lobes are responsible for our hearing, the speech centre and the sensory cells (smell, taste).
THE VIBRATION THERAPY
Vibration therapy is used for the therapy of spasticity (tone control), hemineglect and sensorimotor disorders. Another effect of vibration therapy is that the transmission of pain signals to the brain is interrupted (gate control theory).
GATE-CONTROL-THEORIE
The gate control theory or control barrier theory states that the spinal cord has a neurological gate that stops pain signals or allows them to pass through to the brain. This gate is opened by the activity of pain signals rising up the fine nerve fibers and closed by activity in thicker fibers or signals coming from the brain. Neurologically, according to the Gate Control Theory, external and internal pain stimuli are received by pain receptors (nociceptors) in the skin, muscles, joints and internal organs and are connected in the posterior horn of the spinal cord (Rexed zones I, II and V) to the second neuron of the pain pathway. Since many neurons from the periphery converge on a single neuron, this is referred to as a wide dynamic range neuron (WDR neuron). This connection is subject to very strong modulation by other neurons (Stangl, 2019).
Literature used: Stangl, W. (2019). Keyword: ‘gate control theory’. Online encyclopedia of psychology and education.
Source: https://lexikon.stangl.eu/3532/gate-control-theorie/ (23.09.2019)
