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. 2021 Jun 29;10(1):22.
doi: 10.1186/s40035-021-00245-2.

The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on gait in patients with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review

Fateme Pol  1 , Mohammad Ali Salehinejad  2 , Hamzeh Baharlouei  3 , Michael A Nitsche  2   4
Affiliations

The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on gait in patients with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review

Fateme Pol et al. Transl Neurodegener. .

Abstract

Background: Gait problems are an important symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulatory intervention that can modulate cortical excitability of the 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 (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 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: Eighteen studies were included in this systematic review. Overall, tDCS targeting the motor cortex and supplementary motor area bilaterally seems to be promising for gait rehabilitation in PD. Studies of tDCS targeting the dorosolateral 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 approach to improving gait in PD. Anodal tDCS over the motor areas has shown a positive effect on gait, but stimulation of other areas is less promising. However, the heterogeneities of methods and results have made it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Therefore, systematic explorations of tDCS protocols are required to optimize the efficacy.

Keywords: Gait; Parkinson’s disease; Transcranial direct current stimulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

MAN is a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of Neuroelectrics and Neurodevice. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The PRISMA flow chart of included studies investigating the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on gait symptoms in Parkinson's Disease
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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