title: Loss of fractal gait harmony in Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, an intrinsic fractal harmonic structure was found underlying the rhythm of physiological walking, but it has not yet been investigated in subjects with a neurological disease. The aim of this study was to determine if and how this harmonic structure is altered in patients with Parkinson's Disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gait analysis of 70 patients with Parkinson's Disease in pharmacological phase on was performed, the findings of which we compared with reference data of age-matched healthy subjects. Fifteen patients were retested after a washout period of 12 h.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alterations in all spatio-temporal gait parameters and gait indices with regard to symmetry, coordination, and harmony were noted, but after correction for multicollinearity bias, only the latter correlated significantly with Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor score (p=0.001). The fractal gait structure underwent even more extensive alterations in pharmacological off phase (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The intrinsic gait harmony was altered in patients with Parkinson's Disease and significantly correlated to motor severity. It could be partially recovered by assumption of L-dopa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Loss of harmony is a quantitatively assessable gait benchmark in Parkinson's Disease. It seems to be dependent on dopaminergic but also on non-dopaminergic networks.
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, I.R.C.C.S., via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: m.iosa@hsantalucia.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iosa
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, I.R.C.C.S., via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morone
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, I.R.C.C.S., via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Augusto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fusco
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, I.R.C.C.S., via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, I.R.C.C.S., via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy; Tor Vergata University of Rome, via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caltagirone
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, I.R.C.C.S., via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paolucci
authors.affiliation: Santa Lucia Foundation, I.R.C.C.S., via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peppe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D017709:Fractals; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Gait analysis; Locomotion; Neurorehabilitation; Parkinson’s Disease; Walking