A joint research group consisting of Nagoya City University, Ritsumeikan University, Meiji University, and Kyoto University has developed a new type of walking rehabilitation (hereafter, walking rehabilitation) that incorporates closed-loop electrical brain stimulation, and as a result, has improved the walking function of patients with Parkinson's disease. revealed that it is possible.
In Parkinson's disease, neurodegeneration causes a decrease in motor function, and in the later stage when the disease progresses, walking disorder greatly limits daily life.Therefore, an effective intervention method for gait disturbance in Parkinson's disease patients is desired, but dopamine preparations and deep brain stimulation, which are currently widely used as treatments for Parkinson's disease, have limited effects on gait disturbance.
Therefore, in this study, we developed a new gait rehabilitation system based on transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), which has been shown to have the potential to induce brain plasticity. tES is electrical stimulation therapy that regulates brain activity by applying a weak electric current from the scalp.Conventionally, electrical stimulation to the brain was performed in a resting state, but in this study, it was realized as stimulation synchronized with the patient's walking rhythm.In other words, it was verified whether the effect of general walking rehabilitation for Parkinson's disease patients could be enhanced by optimal closed-loop electrical brain stimulation tailored (individualized) to the walking of each patient.
In a controlled trial, 23 patients with Parkinson's disease were randomly assigned to receive either closed-loop electrical brain stimulation or sham stimulation, and their walking function was assessed after 2 weeks of twice-weekly walking rehabilitation. .As a result, the electrostimulation group significantly improved gait speed and gait symmetry, as well as the subjective sensation of freezing, which is a characteristic symptom of Parkinson's disease patients.
This study showed the possibility that closed-loop electrical brain stimulation tailored to individual gait patterns may be effective for gait disturbance in Parkinson's disease patients, for whom there was no effective intervention until now.This system has the advantage of being non-invasive, non-drug and highly safe, and is expected to be applied clinically to various pathological conditions.
