Parkinson’s Disease Gait Kinematics: Effects of Cadence- Setting through Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation

Significant changes in gait cycle parameters have been observed in individuals with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) during walking to rhythmically accentuated music (McIntosh et al., 1997; Thaut et al., 1996). These findings are consistent with previous studies that concluded that persons with PD compensate for basal ganglia malfunction by relying more heavily on external cues to guide movement, even in patterns that are well learned (Georgiou et al., 1993). By removing the instrumental music portion of the rhythmic auditory stimulation, the metronome beat itself may be further emphasized as the salient rhythmic external cue.