Vibrating socks to improve gait in Parkinson's disease

In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), treatment of walking problems – and in particular freezing of gait (FOG) – can be very challenging [1]. Most patients continue to experience debilitating gait impairments despite optimal pharmacotherapy. Non-pharmacological interventions, such as external cueing, are therefore recognized as an element of the management of ga it impairments in PD [1]. External cues that act as temporal or spatial stimuli can help to shift from automatic control of gait towards goal-directed control of walking, thereby bypassing the defective basal ganglia circuitry.

Source: Parkinsonism and Related Disorders - October 21, 2019 Category: Neurology Authors: Carola M. Koopman, Eric Lutters, Jorik Nonnekes, Bastiaan R. Bloem, Jeroen P.P. van Vugt, Marleen C. Tjepkema-Cloostermans Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research