Visual Exploration While Walking With and Without Visual Cues in Parkinson's Disease: Freezer Versus Non-Freezer

Background: Visual cues can improve gait in Parkinson's disease (PD), including those experiencing freezing of gait (FOG). However, responses are variable and underpinning mechanisms remain unclear. Visuo-cognitive processing (measured through visual exploration) has been implicated in cue response, but this has not been comprehensively examined.

Objective: To examine visual exploration and gait with and without visual cues in PD who do and do not self-report FOG, and healthy controls (HC).

Methods: 17 HC, 21 PD without FOG, and 22 PD with FOG walked with and without visual cues, under single and dual-task conditions. Visual exploration (ie, saccade frequency, duration, peak velocity, amplitude, and fixation duration) was measured via mobile eye-tracking and gait (ie, gait speed, stride length, foot strike angle, stride time, and stride time variability) with inertial sensors.

Results: PD had impaired gait compared to HC, and dual-tasking made gait variables worse across groups (all  < .01). Visual cues improved stride length, foot strike angle, and stride time in all groups ( < .01). Visual cueing also increased saccade frequency, but reduced saccade peak velocity and amplitude in all groups ( < .01). Gait improvement related to changes in visual exploration with visual cues in PD but not HC, with relationships dependent on group (FOG vs non-FOG) and task (single vs dual).

Conclusion: Visual cues improved visual exploration and gait outcomes in HC and PD, with similar responses in freezers and non-freezers. Freezer and non-freezer specific associations between cue-related changes in visual exploration and gait indicate different underlying visuo-cognitive processing within these subgroups for cue response.