• Arun Singh, Rachel C Cole, Arturo I Espinoza, Darin Brown, James F Cavanagh, and Nandakumar S Narayanan.
• Neurology Department, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. Electronic address: arun-singh@uiowa.edu.
• Clin Neurophysiol. 2020 Mar 1; 131 (3): 694-702.

ObjectivesPatients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have deficits in lower-limb functions such as gait, which involves both cognitive and motor dysfunction. In PD, theta and beta brain rhythms are associated with cognitive and motor functions, respectively. We tested the hypothesis that PD patients with lower-limb abnormalities would exhibit abnormal theta and beta rhythms in the mid-frontal cortical region during lower-limb action.MethodsThis study included thirty-nine participants; 13 PD patients with FOG (PDFOG+), 13 without FOG (PDFOG-), and 13 demographically-matched controls. We recorded scalp electroencephalograms (EEG) during a lower-limb pedaling motor task, which required intentional initiation and stopping of a motor movement.ResultsFOG scores were correlated with disease severity and cognition. PDFOG+ patients pedaled with reduced speed and decreased acceleration compared to PDFOG- patients and controls. PDFOG+ patients exhibited attenuated theta-band (4-8 Hz) power and increased beta-band (13-30 Hz) power at mid-frontal electrode Cz during pedaling. Frontal theta- and beta-band oscillations also correlated with motor and cognitive deficits.ConclusionFrontal theta and beta oscillations are predictors of lower-limb motor symptoms in PD and could be used to design neuromodulation for PD-related lower-limb abnormalities.SignificanceThese data provide insight into mechanisms of lower-limb dysfunction in PD with FOG.Copyright © 2020 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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