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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Behavioral Assessments of Spontaneous Locomotion in a Murine MPTP-induced Parkinson's Disease Model
Published on: January 7, 2019
Low dose methylphenidate improves freezing in advanced Parkinson's disease during off-state
L Pollak1, Y Dobronevsky, T Prohorov
1Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Department of Neurology, Zerifin, Israel. lea.pollak@gmail.com
Abstract:
Five men with advanced idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) were examined to assess the effect of low dose methylphenidate (MPD) on gait. The patients were tested during "off" state before and two hours after the intake of 10 mg MPD while walking an "8 trajectory". The total walking time, total freezing time, number of freezing episodes and the non-freezing walking time were assessed. The obtained data were compared by the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test with a type I error rate of 0.05. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in all gait parameters after MPD intake. Moreover, a good correlation in the grade of improvement for each individual gait characteristic was found. The study demonstrates that low dose of MPD may improve gait, and especially freezing, in patients with severe PD, without the need for exogenous L-dopa. The mechanism of MPD action in patients with advanced PD is further discussed.
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