High Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Freezing of Gait and Nonmotor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease

Background: To investigate the effect of high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on motor symptoms especially freezing of gait (FoG), and nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson disease (PD). Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study, fifteen PD patients were enrolled. For 10 days, 5 Hz, both motor cortices and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were stimulated. The motor symptoms and FoG were evaluated by the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) part III, FoG questionnaire (FoG-Q), variable parameters of FoG, and kinematic gait analysis. Nonmotor symptoms were evaluated by the Korean version of non-Motor Symptoms Scale (K-NMSS), 39-item Parkinson disease questionnaire (K-PDQ39), Mini-Mental Status examination (K-MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (K-MoCA), and Frontal assessment battery (FAB). Results: Finally, 12 patients (real:8, sham:4) data were analyzed. FoG-Q and UPDRS part III were improved (p=0.002, 0.022) and variable parameters of FoG was improved after 10 days stimulation in real treatment group. In addition, their effects maintained until 6 weeks from the baseline. In nonmotor symptoms, K-NMSS and K-PDQ 39 were improved until 6 weeks in real treatment group (p=0.002, 0.002), however no changes were shown in cognitive function test. Conclusions: The high frequency rTMS was effective for FoG, in addition to motor and a few nonmotor symptoms in PD. J Korean Neurol Assoc 33(4):297-305, 2015