Cerebellar rTMS Theta Burst for Dual-task Walking in Parkinson's Disease

Overview

Objective of the study: To test the efficacy of theta burst cerebellar stimulation on dual task walking in Parkinson's disease using a cross-over design and wearing sensors technology Design: Twenty Parkinson's disease patients with no dementia will be recruited for a cross-over sham-controlled study. Each patient will undergo a sham stimulation or a single session of cerebellar theta burst stimulation with a wash out period of at least 14 days. Each patient will be evaluated before and after stimulation by a battery of gait and movement tests using wearing sensors technology .

There are no medical effective treatments for dual-task gait in Parkinson's disease. Imaging, neurophysiology and pathology studies suggested cerebellum as possible target of brain stimulation for dual-task walking for theta Burst repetitive Transcranial magnetic stimulation Objective of the study: To test the efficacy of theta burst cerebellar stimulation on gait in Parkinson's disease using a cross-over design and wearing sensors technology Design: Parkinson's disease patients able to walk and without dementia/behavioral disturbances will be recruited for a cross-over sham-controlled study. Each patient will undergo a sham stimulation or a single session of cerebellar theta burst stimulation with a wash out period of at least 14 days. Repetitive cerebellar theta burst stimulation will be performed by Duo-Mag XT100, using a 3 pulses at 50-Hz repeated at a rate of 5-Hz; 20 trains of 10 bursts given with 8-s intervals for a total of 600 pulses. Intensity of rTMS was set at the 80% of Amplitude of Motor Threshold (RMT) obtained in the left motor cortex for each subject. A sample size of 20 subjects with complete stimulation (2 stimulations per subject, for a total number of stimulation) Each patient will be evaluated before and after stimulation by a battery of gait and movement tests using wearing sensors technology. Sensors assessment: The following gait parameters will be evaluated in normal and cognitive/motor dual-tasks: i) step length ii) step variability iii) step phases iv) turning speed