Commentary: an evaluation of mechanisms underlying the influence of step cues on gait in Parkinson's disease

As patients lose their physical independence, disturbances in gait are a leading cause for institutional care in Parkinson's disease (PD). For many years, clinicians have acknowledged the role that external visual cues often have on improving gait in PD. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, C.A. Lebold and Q.J. Almeida present data that dissects out the roles of focused attention and proprioceptive processing in the amelioration of gait deficits. Their findings suggest that focused visual attention on the lower limbs in PD may be compensating for a deficit in proprioceptive processing. This study highlights the potential therapeutic benefits of strategies that could tap into this mechanism.