At-home electrical vestibular stimulation headset could ease PTSD symptoms
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after someone experiences one or more traumatic events. It is characterized by intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance of triggering stimuli or situations, mood changes, heightened arousal and increased physical reactivity.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after experiencing a traumatic event, characterized by intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, mood changes, heightened arousal, and increased physical reactivity. While various treatments exist, not all PTSD patients have access to these options or find them beneficial.
Peter Colvonen, a researcher at UCSD, collaborated with Neurovalens to test an emerging intervention called electrical vestibular system stimulation (VSS) for reducing PTSD symptoms. The study, published in Nature Mental Health, found that the VSS intervention reduced overall PTSD symptom severity, insomnia, generalized anxiety, and improved quality of life.
The intervention, delivered through a headset called Modius Spero, involved wearing the device for 30 minutes daily for 12 weeks. The trial was double-blind, sham-controlled, and conducted on 383 participants diagnosed with PTSD aged 22 to 74. While both the active headset and sham group showed improvements, the active headset produced a significantly larger benefit, reducing PCL-5 scores by 23.5 points compared to 12.1 points with the sham group.
The results suggest that this at-home VSS intervention could be a valuable tool for individuals with PTSD who may not have access to other treatment options, although it is not intended to replace first-line trauma-focused therapies.
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