Sensory stimulation therapy

Sensory stimulation therapy (SST) is an experimental therapy that aims to utilize neural plasticity mechanisms to aid in the recovery of somatosensory function after stroke or cognitive ageing. Stroke and cognitive ageing are well known sources of cognitive loss, the former by neuronal death, the later by weakening of neural connections. As SS implies a patient will have a desired sense stimulated in a predetermined fashion at a known frequency. It has been found that this technique can be used to reduce as much as 30 years of cognitive ageing, and can both improve two point discrimination thresholds and also impair them. Sensory stimulation therapy (SST) is an experimental therapy that aims to utilize neural plasticity mechanisms to aid in the recovery of somatosensory function after stroke or cognitive ageing. Stroke and cognitive ageing are well known sources of cognitive loss, the former by neuronal death, the later by weakening of neural connections. As SS implies a patient will have a desired sense stimulated in a predetermined fashion at a known frequency. It has been found that this technique can be used to reduce as much as 30 years of cognitive ageing, and can both improve two point discrimination thresholds and also impair them. By 2025, it is estimated that 34 million people in the United States will have dementia. It is extremely important, then, that we establish an effective treatment for people with such symptoms to either reduce, or diminish dementia altogether. In modern-day treatment not involving pharmacological treatment, psychosocial therapies are a great intervention. With psychosocial therapies such as massage, aromatherapy, multi-sensory stimulation, music therapy, and reality orientation, treatment of dementia and dementia related diseases has become possible in a less traditional yet non-pharmacological form. It was once believed that the brain was largely unchanging and that its function was decided at a young age. Along this train of thought, cognitive loss from strokes and ageing were viewed as unrecoverable. Functional Localization is a theory which suggests that each section of the brain has a specific function, and that loss of a section equates to permanent loss of function. Traditional models even specialize between hemispheres of the brain and describe 'artistic and logical sections of the brain.' This fatalistic outlook has been dramatically challenged by the recent paradigm of Brain Plasticity. Brain plasticity refers to the ability of the brain to restructure itself, form new connections, or adjust the strength of existing connections. The current paradigm allow for conceptualization of brain that is capable of change. Various researchers are using this concept to develop new therapies for conditions that were previously viewed as permanent; for example Paul Bach-y-Rita has worked on devices to give sight to blind individuals, and alleviate a feeling of falling in a patient that has lost function of the vestibular apparatus. It has been found that many senses have some plastic nature about them. Even auditory cognition has been shown to have some potential for recovery after stroke. A recent study by Sarkamo et al. has shown that listening to music and audio books during early recovery from stroke can result in improved cognition.