Having been recently diagnosed with PD, I am fascinated by Peter Tass's work and his vibrotactile glove.
The underlying premise seems to be that PD causes the neurons to fire in synchrony, resulting in tremor and through tactile sensation it is possible to do a 'coordinated reset' and desynchronise these neurons to a strong degree, so they fire independently.
While a glove with optimised random patterns of vibration to the finger tips may become the most efficient method, it makes me wonder whether other sensory/movement may have some positive impact as well. Peter Tass doesn't suggest the effect is exclusive to a particular pattern or only the finger tips.
For example, when I have a tremor in my forearm, I notice that stroking my fingers with the the other hand will calm the symptom. When I do something physical such as a 'plank' my left side will quiver with the effort - but I've noticed that if I open and close my palms then I don't shake.
So, I wonder if others use little therapies, or movement, combined with touch to help ameliorate symptoms.
One point I am not clear on (hopefully someone will have insight), is whether the synchronicity of neurons is a 'learned effect' - meaning that the more one tremors in certain way, the more the neurons become set in that behaviour and the more it is replicated.
If this is the case, contrary movements that help ameliorate the tremors will also presumably slow down the degree and rate of synchronicity of the neurons?
In addition, there's also an argument perhaps, not to delay taking meds as one is more likely to ingrain the movement disorder early in the disease, rather than later.
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Mezmerric
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Sorry to hear about your recent diagnoses. My kids when younger used to hold both my arms to stop the shaking and then my legs would start. It usually ended up in twisted, pretzel-like discomfort, but it was fun....Just wanted to say that PD tremors are resting tremors, so if you open/close your hand, it is not resting and your forearm might not shake.
You have smart observations, keep them coming....As long as you're here, might as well lead us to the cure. By the way, you can't spell Mezmerric without,
pressing the hand flat can help - PNST on the fingers can help and it involves pressing the sides of your fingers and thumb and also pressing the middle of the palm of your hand and there is an acpressure spot that is just below the elbow that can be pressed that sometimes helps
You make a really good point when you say, "the more the neurons become set in that behaviour, the more it is replicated". The saying I've always heard is "Neurons that fire together, wire together". This is an example of the brain figuring out how to be most efficient at what we do often. So, the neuroplasticity of our brain can both help us and hurt us.
I agree that this is an argument for taking medicine earlier. I had waited three years post diagnosis to go on prescription medicine. My bigger symptoms were pain, rigidity and bradykinesia (slow movement). Part of why I did go on medicine is because I has started doing everything with my left hand because my right hand did not have the dexterity to type, or even rotate a hairbrush or toothbrush. I didn't want my brain to reallocate the part used to control my right hand.
Concerning the vibrating gloves, I think the reason why they focus on the fingertips is because the Sensory Motor Cortex in the brain proportionally allocates a lot more area to the fingertips due to there being so many nerves there, allowing us to sense so much and have so much dexterity.
All the Peter Tass videos are very similar. He shows the same slides and examples in each, so hard to get more information. Looking at publications there’s very little about co-ordinated reset which Peter Tass isn’t also the author. It would be good and comforting to know that other research groups are also seeing similar results.
I’ve looked at some of the glove making videos. In principle they look relatively straight forward to build at a relatively low cost for someone with any experience of electronics and imbedded microsystems - which makes me wonder why we are not seeing more on the market - even if it just advertised as a ‘finger tingling glove’ rather than a medical device!
I am amazed that his work is not getting wider research to replicate his relatively minor and incomplete FDA study. This concerns me. But he was recruited to Stanford and runs a big department at this most prestigous institution. We should see some results from the work being done at the FDA by Synergic Medical Technologies; a former partner with Dr. Tess .
Your assessment of glovebuilding is a bit harsh but accurate. I think no one who has studied this opportuntiy wants to potentially face the law team of Stanford.
Hi Taranto. Replication of the Tass VCR treatment protocol research trials will be only possible when other researchers get hold of the same device and this is currently not possible because of IP issues. Even Synergic is limited in being able to test only the old generation of gloves. In the meantime, let us find encouragement and hope based on the anecdotal results from the reports by people - including you and I - of positive experiences using DIY and hacked bhaptics gloves.
very insightful response.. fortunately Synergic has the same glove used by Dr. Tass . Since they made both. Also, I think behind-the-scenes Stanford is working with synergic. For sure the results from synergic FTA activities will be valuable.
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