Journal of Movement Disorders

Brief communication

The Effects of Biofeedback Therapy on Anxiety and Depression in Parkinson’s Disease: A Pilot Study: Justus Chun-Yu Chen, Tzu-Yun Tseng, Jong-Ling Fuh, Yu-Hsiang Cheng, Dai-Wei Lin, Han-Lin Chiang; J Mov Disord. 2025;18(4):360-364. Published online July 14, 2025; DOI: https://doi.org/10.14802/jmd.25097

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Abstract PDF Supplementary Material: Objective
This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and potential effects of biofeedback therapy (BT) on anxiety and depression among patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Methods
A randomized waitlist-controlled trial was conducted involving 19 patients with PD and comorbid anxiety and/or depression. Anxiety and depression were assessed at baseline, posttreatment, and 1-month follow-up.
Results
All 19 patients completed the study. Compared with those of the control group, significant improvements in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the anxiety subscale (but not the depression subscale) of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were observed immediately after BT. In the pooled analysis, the anxiolytic effect persisted at the 1-month follow-up, with greater improvements observed in those with more severe baseline anxiety.
Conclusion
These preliminary findings suggest that BT may help reduce anxiety symptoms among PD patients. Future studies with larger, more severely affected cohorts are needed to confirm these findings.

Case Report

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined with Action Observation and Electromyographic Biofeedback Training in a Patient with Writer’s Cramp: Yohei Okada, Chiharu Shibamoto, Yukari Osumi, Chihiro Asano, Riho Takeuchi, Sachio Nabeshima, Shu Morioka, Koji Shomoto; J Mov Disord. 2018;11(2):82-86. Published online May 30, 2018; DOI: https://doi.org/10.14802/jmd.18007

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5 Web of Science
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We present a 47-year-old right-handed woman with a 15-year history of writer’s cramp who was provided with six sessions of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with observation of writing actions performed by a healthy subject and electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback training to decrease EMG activities in her right forehand muscles while writing for 30 min for 4 weeks. She showed improvement in dystonic posture and writing speed after the intervention. The writing movement and writing speed scores on a writer’s cramp rating scale decreased, along with writing time. Our findings demonstrated that cathodal tDCS combined with action observation and EMG biofeedback training might improve dystonic writing movements in a patient with writer’s cramp.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

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