The following is a collection of research abstracts pertaining to the application of rTMS and other electromagnetic stimulation techniques for the relief of Parkinson's disease symptoms. There is also additional supporting evidence for the proposed potential of electromagnetic therapy application for relieving the symptoms of Parkinson's disease as well as support for the associated theory of mechanism of operation driving the change.
Rapid improvement of visuoperceptive functions by picoTesla range magnetic fields in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Int J Neurosci. 1993 Jun;70(3-4):233-54.
Sandyk R, Iacono RP.
NeuroCommunication Research Laboratories, Danbury, CT 06811.
Impairment in perceptual motor or visuospatial tasks is among the most frequently encountered abnormality in neuropsychological testing of patients with Parkinson's disease, being present in up to 90% of cases. Visuoperceptive deficits can result from cortical and subcortical lesions involving the right hemisphere, thalamus, and basal ganglia and are thought to reflect a defect in attentional-arousal mechanisms induced by lesions that interrupt a cortical-limbic-reticular activating loop. Clinically, the presence of visuoperceptive impairment may not be noted by Parkinsonian patients but may contribute to various disabilities including difficulty driving a vehicle and difficulties performing daily tasks which require intact visuospatial abilities (i.e., walking, dressing, drawing and copying designs). The present communication concerns two fully medicated Parkinsonian patients who responded to extracranial treatment with picoTesla range magnetic fields (MF), behaviorally and also demonstrated rapidly and dramatically enhanced visuoperceptive functions as demonstrated on various drawing tasks. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of extremely weak MF in enhancing cognitive functions in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Improvement in word-fluency performance in Parkinson's disease by administration of electromagnetic fields.
Int J Neurosci. 1994 Jul;77(1-2):23-46.
Sandyk R.
Neuro Communication Research Laboratories, Danbury, CT 06811.
The association between degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) system and the motor manifestations of Parkinson's disease (PD) provided the impetus for the development of DA replacement therapy. However, clinical experience has demonstrated that DA-ergic drugs, while attenuating the motor symptoms of PD, have little or no consistent effect on the mental and cognitive symptoms of the disease which are thought to be related partly to degeneration of the meso-cortico-limbic DA system. Thus, failure of DA-ergic drugs to improve the mental and cognitive deficits of PD indicates that these agents cannot fully restore DA functions in the meso-cortico-limbic circuits. The present communication concerns five fully medicated Parkinsonian patients in whom application of a series of treatments with electromagnetic fields (EMF) of extremely low intensity (in the picotesla range) and frequency (5-8Hz) produced a dramatic improvement in performance on Thurstone's World-Fluency Test, a sensitive marker of frontal lobe functions. These findings suggest that in contrast to DA replacement therapy application of low intensity EMF may improve frontal lobe functions in patients with PD presumably by augmenting DA activity in the mesocortical system. As deficiency of the frontal DA system has been implicated also in the development of akinesia and freezing in PD these observations may explain the beneficial effects of EMF on the motor manifestations of the disease.
