Acupuncture Effect on Reaction-Time Changes in Parkinson's Disease Patients-Case Study Series

Abstract

Background: Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition associated with deficit in reaction time which can lead to falls, resulting in limited independence, diminished quality of life, heightened rates of institutionalization and increased healthcare costs. We aimed to examine the effects of an acupuncture protocol in motor time response after an auditory stimulus. Methods: This study employed a case series design. Reaction time to exposed rhythmic and random auditory stimuli outcomes were evaluated at six different moments over a month-long acupuncture treatment protocol using the MP 36 system from Biopac Systems. Results: We observed a tendency to have more pronounced improvements in the time response in the more affected side of the body compared with the contralateral one. Patients tended to show better values of response to random auditory stimuli compared to rhythmic auditory ones. We also observed a tendency to obtain better results when considering the accumulative effects of the acupuncture protocol. Conclusions: Our findings indicated a possible role of reaction time as a sensitive and useful tool for motor function assessment in PD patients. Also, from our results, we concluded that the acupuncture protocol used may lead to an improvement in efficacy of motor response after aleatory and rhythmic stimulus; we also found a tendency for a higher efficacy of acupuncture in random stimuli responses in the first stages of the disease. However, further in-depth research, including a statistical evaluation with a larger participant pool, is necessary to validate and confirm these promising results.

Keywords: acupuncture; biopac system; heidelberg model; parkinson’s disease; reaction time; traditional chinese medicine.

Figure 1

Flowchart of participant selection.

Figure 2

Evaluation procedures. (A)—Device to click, to evaluate motor response; (B)—Full-scenario data collection; (C)—Patient with auditory stimuli and motor response device.

Figure 3

Design Study Legend: M0 = Moment zero; M1 = Moment one; M2 = Moment two; M3 = Moment three; M4 = Moment four; M5 = Moment five; T1 = Treatment one (…) T12 = Treatment 12.

Figure 4

Acupoints used: ST₃₄ (Liáng Qiu), HT₃ (Shào Hăi), HT₇ (Shén Mén), KI₃ (Taì Xī), KI₇ (Fù Liū) and SP₄ (Gong Sūn).

Figure 5

Graphic representation of (a) evolution in time and (b) differences between evaluation moments corresponding to A, B, C and D outcomes of patient 1. Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL). Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL).

Figure 5

Graphic representation of (a) evolution in time and (b) differences between evaluation moments corresponding to A, B, C and D outcomes of patient 1. Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL). Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL).

Figure 6

Graphic representation of (a) evolution in time and (b) differences between evaluation moments corresponding to A, B, C and D outcomes of patient 2. Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL). Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL).

Figure 7

Graphic representation of (a) evolution in time (b) differences between evaluation moments corresponding to A, B, C and D outcomes of patient 3. Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL). Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL).

Figure 8

Graphic representation of (a) evolution in time (b) differences between evaluation moments corresponding to A, B and C outcomes of patient 4. Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL). Legend: Random Right (RaR), Random Left (RaL), Rhythmic Right (RhR), Rhythmic Left (RhL).