SYSTEMS, DEVICES AND METHODS FOR ANXIETY TREATMENT USING VESTIBULAR NERVE STIMULATION

摘要

Methods, systems and devices are provided to stimulate the vestibular system in such a way as to influence the neurological components of the autonomic nervous system and reduce an anxiety level in a subject. A device with one or more electrodes placed over a subject's scalp provides vestibular nerve stimulation (VeNS) to the vestibular nerve, which is then carried into the vestibular nucleus in the brainstem and thereafter transmitted to the neurological components of the autonomic nervous system to reduce a physiological reaction to an anxiety event. The characteristics of the stimulation signal and duration of the treatment are configured to allow the treatment to be delivered before, during or after an anxiety event to potentially prevent or at the very least reduce an anxiety response in the subject.