The University Of Kent just completed a study that showed that controlled stimulation of the ear canal can significantly reduce symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

During the study, experts looked at 46 individuals with Parkinson’s disease, and they found that twice-daily stimulation for two months caused a significant reduction in both motor and non-motor symptoms of the condition. Those who participated in the study experienced greater movement and mobility as well as improvements in decision-making, attention, memory, mood, and sleep. By the end of the study, the participants said it was easier for them to perform everyday activities by themselves.

Experts are confident that the treatment may have long-lasting effects because the therapeutic gains were greatest five weeks after the end of treatment.

“Those symptoms are often untreated or poorly treated and have a particularly detrimental impact on quality of life, and their treatment is a key unmet need,” said Professor Ray Chaudhuri, Director of the National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence at King’s College Hospital.

The study was led by Professor David Wilkinson at Kent’s School of Psychology, and it was based on previous work he did that showed that gentle stimulation of the inner ear can also improve neurological symptoms associated with stroke and traumatic brain injury.

“This study raises the intriguing possibility that some aspects of Parkinson’s disease may be better managed if traditional drug-therapies are combined with gentle, non-invasive stimulation of the balance organs,” Wilkinson said.

Chaudhuri added that he found the results to be very encouraging.

“Achieving both widespread efficacy and durable gains in motor and specifically non-motor aspects of Parkinson’s disease would be quite novel, and improvements in non-motor symptoms would be especially notable,” he said.