The effects of picoTesla range magnetic fields on perceptual organization and visual memory in parkinsonism

Drawing tasks, both free and copied, have achieved a central position in the neuropsychological evaluation of constructional abilities in brain injured patients. The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test was devised in early 1940s as a tool to investigate perceptual organization and visual memory. The Bicycle Drawing Test is used as a measure of mechanical reasoning as well as visuographic functioning. Recent reports have demonstrated that extracranial treatment with magnetic fields (MF) in the picoTesla range improves constructional abilities including visuoperceptive functions in Parkinsonian patients. To evaluate further the effects of these extremely weak MF on cognitive functions in Parkinsonism, I investigated in a 69 year old fully medicated Parkinsonian patient the influence of a single, extracranial application of MF on the patient's performance on the Complex Figure (copy and recall) as well as the Bicycle Drawing Test. Results of the trial showed that a 30 minute application of MF produced a dramatic improvement in the patient's ability to copy and recall the Complex Figure. This treatment was also associated with a marked improvement in the performance of bicycle drawing with reversal of the Parkinsonian micrographia. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that this treatment modality may reverse some of the cognitive impairments associated with Parkinsonism which usually are not improved by treatment with dopaminergic or anticholinergic medications.