Development of a training paradigm for voluntary control of the peri-auricular muscles: a feasibility study.
Siwaphorn Chanthaphun, Sandy L Heck, Carolee J Winstein and 1 others
PMID 31200729WHAT IT FOUND
Six of ten non-disabled adults who finished the protocol learned to move their ears and control all three games.
Four did not. Without a control group, this is feasibility, not proof of effectiveness.
Key findings
01Six of the ten participants who completed the protocol progressed through all three computer games, while two completed fewer than three and two completed none.
02Learners had greater mean ear movement than Poor/Non-Learners in both phases: 1.66 mm versus 0.62 mm in facilitation and 2.44 mm versus 0.74 mm in skill.
03No serious adverse events were reported; mild headaches occurred in 4 participants, muscle soreness in 3, and fatigue in 2.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only ten of thirteen enrolled participants completed the protocol; one participant's data were unusable, one trained in only one session, and one withdrew. There was no control group, so the facilitation phase could not be compared with simple practice using the game device. The training combined electrical stimulation, movement feedback, mirror viewing, a head-mounted EMG system, computer games, and encouraged ear practice outside sessions; the effect of any single component cannot be separated. Ear movement amplitude was used as a proxy for skilled control, but it did not always match game performance. Outside lab self-practice was encouraged but not systematically tracked. Only non-disabled adults were enrolled, not the intended population with spinal cord injury.
Declared interests
The supplied article text does not report a funding source or author conflict-of-interest declaration; the publication metadata lists Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 60% success as evidence that this protocol works for patients with spinal cord injury. It was tested in ten non-disabled adults with no control group, and the measured outcomes were ear movement and game performance.