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Hamzeh Baharlouei, Fateme Pol, Mohammad Ali Salehinejad and Michael A Nitsche
Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Germany
ScientificTracks Abstracts: J Neurol Clin Neurosci
Background: Gait problems are an important symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuro-modulatory intervention that can modulate cortical excitability of gait-related regions. Despite an increasing number of gait-related tDCS studies in PD, the efficacy of this technique for improving gait has not been systematically investigated yet. Here, we aimed to systematically explore the effects of tDCS on gait in PD, based on available experimental studies. Methods: Using the PRISMA approach, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PEDro databases were searched for randomized clinical trials assessing the effect of tDCS on gait in patients with PD. Results: 18 studies were included in this review. Overall, tDCS targeting the motor cortex and supplementary motor area bilaterally seems to be promising for gait rehabilitation in PD. Studies targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or cerebellum showed more heterogeneous results. More studies are needed to systematically compare the efficacy of different tDCS protocols, including protocols applying tDCS alone and/or in combination with conventional gait rehabilitation treatment in PD. Conclusions: tDCS is a promising intervention to improve gait in PD. Anodal tDCS over motor areas showed a positive effect on gait, but stimulation of other areas was less promising. However, heterogeneities of methods and results make it difficult to draw firm conclusions and require systematic exploration of tDCS protocols to optimize efficacy. Keywords: Transcranial direct current stimulation, gait, Parkinson's disease. Recent Publications: 1. Pol, Fateme & Baharlouei, Hamzeh & Taheri, Alireza & Menz, Hylton & Forghany, Saeed. (2021). Foot and ankle biomechanics during walking in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Gait & Posture. 89. 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.06.018. 2. Pol, Fateme & Salehinejad, Mohammad Ali & Baharlouei, Hamzeh & Nitsche, Michael. (2021). The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on gait in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review. Translational Neurodegeneration. 10. 10.1186/s40035-021-00245-2. 3. Khami A, Roostayi MM, Parhampour B, Heidari Z, Baharlouei H, Hoorfar H. Effect of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields on Clinical Signs and Quality of Life in Patients with Hemophilic Arthropathy of the Knee Joint: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Adv Biomed Res. 2020 Dec 23;9:81. doi: 10.4103/abr.abr_244_18. PMID: 33912497; PMCID: PMC8059452.
Hamzeh Baharlouei finished his PhD in Physiotherapy in 2020. His PhD project was about the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on balance in older adults. He published some studies about the effect of tDCS on balance and gait in young adults, older adults and patients with Parkinson's disease. Beside working as a researcher, he teaches physiotherapy in neurological disease at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences since 2012. His research field is tDCS, older adults, balance, and gait.
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