Effects of theta burst stimulation on the Parkinsonian gait disorder and cortical gait-network activity

Background The Parkinsonian gait disorder and freezing of gait (FoG) are challenging symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective To assess the effect of subthalamic theta burst deep brain stimulation (TBS-DBS) on the Parkinsonian gait performance in real-world conditions and cortical activity indexed by mobile EEG. Methods In this monocentric, randomised, double-blind, short-term study, 12 age-matched controls (11 male, age 59 ± 8 years) and 15 PD participants (14 male, age 62 ± 9 years, disease duration 15 ± 6 years) with subthalamic stimulation (76 ± 39 months) were assessed with clinical scores (FoG-Course, MDS-UPDRS) and a standardized gait course simulating everyday life situations. Three DBS algorithms were applied in a randomized order with intertrial waiting periods of 30 min: (1) OFF-DBS; (2) cDBS; (3) TBS-DBS (interburst frequency 5 Hz, intraburst frequency 200 Hz) with regular medication. During the standardized gait course a mobile, 24-channel EEG system and 6 wearable axial kinematic sensors were used. Results The primary outcome, the relative change of FoG-Course by DBS, was not superior with TBS-DBS compared to cDBS in the entire sample. Seven of fifteen PD participants rated subjectively TBS-DBS equal or better than cDBS (“TBS-preference group”). EEG recordings revealed movement-induced alpha and beta suppression in premotor and motor cortex in both cDBS and TBS-DBS conditions in PD with slightly different patterns between the DBS modes. Conclusions In this pilot trial, TBS-DBS showed benefits in the subjective perception of gait in a subgroup of PD patients accompanied by specific cortical network changes. TBS-DBS merits further investigation in future larger cohort studies with longer observation periods.