Effects of rhythmic auditory stimulation on upper-limb movements in patients with Parkinson's disease

Wei Fan, Jin Li, Wei Wei, Shao-Hua Xiao, Zhen-Jun Liao, Shu Mei Wang (Corresponding Author), Kenneth N. K. Fong

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Introduction: Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) is an effective technique extensively used to alleviate lower-limb bradykinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, RAS effects on upper-limb bradykinesia have not been well studied. This study investigated immediate effects of RAS on upper-limb movements in PD patients and healthy people.

Methods: PD patients (n = 23) and age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 23) executed left-hand, right-hand, and both-hand movement tasks of the Purdue Pegboard Test when listening to the beats of RAS, including 100%, 110%, and 120% of the baseline tempo, which was fastest movement performance of each participant without the aid of RAS. Sequence of RAS and tasks was randomized for each participant.

Results: PD patients had slower upper-limb movements than did health controls. An interaction was found between RAS and tasks. In both patients and controls and for all task conditions, 120%RAS induced higher scores than did 110% RAS, and the latter induced higher scores than did 100%RAS. In both patients and controls and for all RAS conditions, the right-hand condition induced higher scores than did the left-hand condition, and the latter induced higher scores than did the both-hand condition.

Conclusions: RAS was effective in regulating upper-limb movements in PD patients, which may be explained by rich neural connections between auditory and motor cortical areas in humans. Clinical practitioners should consider using RAS in clinical therapy. Future neuroimaging studies are needed to explore neural mechanisms of RAS in PD patients.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)27-30
Number of pages4
JournalParkinsonism and Related Disorders
Volume101
Early online date23 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2022

Keywords

  • Acoustic stimulation
  • Arm
  • Bradykinesia
  • Movement
  • Parkinson's disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Clinical Neurology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of rhythmic auditory stimulation on upper-limb movements in patients with Parkinson's disease'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this