Effect of cerebrospinal dual-site magnetic stimulation on freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Addressing levodopa-unresponsive freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) presents a significant challenge. A randomized double-blinded trial evaluated the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in conjunction with transcutaneous magnetic spinal cord stimulation among 57 PD individuals experiencing levodopa-unresponsive FOG. Patients were randomized to receive dual-site stimulation involving bilateral primary motor cortex of the lower leg (M1-LL) and the lumbar spinal cord, single-site stimulation targeting bilateral M1-LL alone, or sham stimulation for 10 sessions. Low-frequency rTMS induced remarkable improvements in FOG, gait, and motor functions compared to sham at 1 day and 1 month postintervention. Notably, the dual-site protocol demonstrated superior efficacy in mitigating FOG and improving gait compared to the single-site approach, which correlated with a pronounced increase in short-interval intracortical inhibition of the abductor pollicis brevis. These findings underscore the potential of the cerebrospinal dual-site regimen as a promising approach for levodopa-unresponsive FOG and gait in PD.