We aimed to evaluate the effect of yoga on motor and non-motor symptoms and cortical excitability in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

We prospectively evaluated 17 patients with PD at baseline, after one month of conventional care, and after one month of supervised yoga sessions. The motor and non-motor symptoms were evaluated using the Unified Parkinson’s disease Rating Scale (motor part III), Hoehn and Yahr stage, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Hamilton depression rating scale, Hamilton anxiety rating scale, non-motor symptoms questionnaire and World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to record resting motor threshold, central motor conduction time, ipsilateral silent period (iSP), contralateral silent period (cSP), short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and intracortical facilitation.

The mean age of the patients was 55.5 ± 10.8 years, with a mean duration of illness of 4.0 ± 2.5 years. The postural stability of the patients significantly improved following yoga (0.59 ± 0.5 to 0.18 ± 0.4, p = 0.039). There was a significant reduction in the cSP from baseline (138.07 ± 27.5 ms) to 4 weeks of yoga therapy (116.94 ± 18.2 ms, p = 0.004). In addition, a significant reduction in SICI was observed after four weeks of yoga therapy (0.22 ± 0.10) to (0.46 ± 0.23), p = 0.004).

Yoga intervention can significantly improve postural stability in patients with PD. A significant reduction of cSP and SICI suggests a reduction in GABAergic neurotransmission following yoga therapy that may underlie the improvement observed in postural stability.

CTRI/2019/02/017564

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is characterized by the clinical triad of gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, and memory impairment with normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used to assess the corticospinal motor pathways in patients with iNPH with conflicting results.

Our study included 11 patients with iNPH and 13 healthy controls. All the subjects underwent TMS and resting motor threshold (RMT), central motor conduction time (CMCT), short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), intracortical facilitation, and silent period (SP) were recorded in the upper limb. Besides, RMT and CMCT in lower limb were also recorded. Cognitive assessments were done using mini-mental status examination, Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), and Addenbrooke’s cognitive evaluation III (ACE III). Same parameters were recorded 24 h of CSF (lumbar puncture, LP) drainage.

Mean age of the iNPH patients was 69.00 ± 6.71 years with age at onset being 66.64 ± 7.10 years. Duration of disease was 1.80 ± 1.25 years. A significant difference was noted in CMCT for the lower limb (CMCT-LL), SICI, and ipsilateral SP between pre-LP NPH and controls. Also, there was a significant difference in MoCA and ACE III between pre-LP NPH and controls. A significant reduction was observed in lower limb RMT between pre- and post-LP NPH patients. Post LP, there was a reduction in the lower limb CMCT and improvement in SICI.

A significant prolongation of CMCT-LL was observed in NPH patients. Lumbar CSF drainage in them resulted in a significant reduction in lower limb RMT thereby suggesting an increase in cortical excitability.