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. 2025 Apr 11:18:663-671.
doi: 10.1016/j.ibneur.2025.04.003. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Negative emotion modulates postural tremor variability in Parkinson's disease: A multimodal EEG and motion sensor study toward behavioral interventions

Kang Lin  1 , Pei Li  2   3 , Pei-Zhu Zhang  2   3 , Ping Jin  1 , Xin-Feng Ma  1 , Guang-An Tong  1 , Xiao Wen  2   3 , Xue Bai  2   3 , Gong-Qiang Wang  1   2 , Yong-Zhu Han  1   2
Affiliations

Negative emotion modulates postural tremor variability in Parkinson's disease: A multimodal EEG and motion sensor study toward behavioral interventions

Kang Lin et al. IBRO Neurosci Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Despite clinical observations of emotion-tremor interactions in Parkinson's disease (PD), the neurophysiological mechanisms mediating this relationship remain poorly characterized.

Methods: This study employs a multimodal approach integrating 16-channel electroencephalography (EEG) and inertial motion sensors to investigate emotion-modulated postural tremor dynamics in 20 PD patients and 20 healthy controls (HCs) during standardized video-induced emotional states (positive/neutral/negative).

Results: Key findings demonstrate impaired negative emotional processing in PD, manifested as paradoxical increases in subjective valence (pleasure-displeasure ratings) coupled with reduced physiological arousal. Tremor variability predominantly correlated with negative emotional states, showing a negative association with valence scores and positive correlation with arousal levels. EEG analysis identified differential beta-band power modulation in prefrontal (Fp1/Fp2) and temporal (T3/T4) regions during negative emotion processing. These results suggest that emotion-driven tremor fluctuations in PD originate from dysfunctional integration of limbic and motor networks.

Conclusion: These findings establish emotion-modulated tremor as a distinct PD phenotype, informing the development of closed-loop biofeedback systems for personalized neuromodulation.

Keywords: Beta oscillations; Emotion regulation; Parkinson’s disease; Postural tremor; Wearable sensors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example of the experimental process operation. (A) In experimental tasks and procedures under the emotion-inducing video, a schematic diagram of the electrode positions. (B) In experimental tasks and procedures under emotion-inducing video, hand task posture changes during sitting.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Comparison of cortical beta-band power values between PD and HCs under different emotional video stimuli. (A) Comparison of beta-band power values under neutral video stimuli. (B) Comparison of beta-band power values under positive video stimuli. (C) Comparison of beta-band power values under negative video stimuli. (D) Comparison of beta-band power values under three different emotional video stimuli in PD groups.
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