Influence of alarming auditory cues on viscoelastic stiffness of skeletal muscles in patients with Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Clinical biomechanics (Bristol) 2019-02, Vol.62, p.93-95
• Main Authors: Rätsep, Tõnu, Asser, Toomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - methods; Aged; Auditory cues; Auditory Perception - physiology; Case-Control Studies; Cues; Deep Brain Stimulation; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Paradoxical kinesis; Parkinson Disease - physiopathology; Parkinson Disease - therapy; Parkinson's disease; Rigidity; Viscoelastic stiffness
• ISSN: 0268-0033; 1879-1271
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2019.01.008

Patients with Parkinson's disease can show brief normalization of motor activity in response to intense external stimuli – a phenomenon known as paradoxical kinesis. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of alarming auditory signals on the level of viscoelastic stiffness of skeletal muscles as an indicator of parkinsonian rigidity. Myotonometry was used to determine the changes of viscoelastic stiffness of skeletal muscles in ten patients in an advanced stage of Parkinson's disease, treated with deep brain stimulation, and ten healthy controls. The measurements were repeated and compared during the stimulation-on and stimulation-off periods, with and without auditory alarming signals. The mean values of stiffness measured in the stimulation-off phase (370.4 N/m) were significantly higher than the values obtained in the stimulation-on phase (339.2 N/m) (q = 6.05; P