ArticleTremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.)2020
Brain Metabolic Changes with Longitudinal Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation in Essential Tremor Subjects.
Article in Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for Essential Tremor: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Effectiveness and Safety.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Pooled it
- Peripheral nerve stimulation for essential tremor: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurosurgical review · 2026Pooled it
- [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2023Pooled it
- Short-term efficacy of peripheral nerve stimulation for essential tremor in a randomized double-blind controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Non-Invasive Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation Therapy Offers Action Tremor Relief in Parkinson's Disease.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Trial
- Underlying Tremor Improvement with Consistent Use of Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation in Patients with Essential Tremor.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Current and Emerging Therapeutic Targets for Essential Tremor: A Critical Appraisal of Recent Preclinical and Clinical Studies.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2025Review
- Non-invasive electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves for the management of tremor.Journal of the neurological sciences · 2022Review
- Real-World Evidence of Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation for Essential Tremor.Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.) · 2022Article
- Multiple Comorbidities, Psychiatric Disorders, Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs Among Adults with Essential Tremor: A Retrospective Observational Study in a Large US Commercially Insured and Medicare Advantage Population.Journal of health economics and outcomes research · 2022Article
- The Molecular Neuroimaging of Tremor.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Non-invasive peripheral nerve stimulation, also referred to as transcutaneous afferent patterned stimulation (TAPS), reduces hand tremor in essential tremor (ET) subjects. However, the mechanism of action of TAPS is unknown. Here, we investigated changes in brain metabolism over three months of TAPS use in ET subjects. Methods: This was an interventional, open label, single group study enrolling 5 ET subjects. They received 40 minutes of TAPS treatment twice daily for 90 days. Brain metabolic activity and tremor severity were measured using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT, and the Tremor Research Group Essential Tremor Rating Assessment Scale (TETRAS), respectively, at baseline and after 90 days. Tremor power and frequency was measured before and after all TAPS sessions using an onboard three-axis accelerometer. Results: FDG PET/CT revealed areas of hypermetabolism in ipsilateral cerebellar hemisphere and hypometabolism in contralateral cerebellar hemisphere following 90 days of TAPS treatment, compared to day one (uncorrected p value <0.05). Paired pre-post kinematic measurements over 90 days showed significantly decreased tremor power (p < 0.0001) but no change in tremor frequency. The TETRAS score on day 1 decreased from 6.5 ± 2.5 to 4.1 ± 1.8 following TAPS (p = 0.05). The pre-post TETRAS scores on day 90: 4.9 ± 1.5 and 4.1± 1 were lower than pre-TAPS TETRAS score on day 1 (p = 0.14 and 0.05, respectively). Conclusions: Our results suggest that longitudinal TAPS of the median and radial nerves modulates brain metabolism in areas instrumental to motor coordination and implicated in ET. Clinically, TAPS reduced tremor power, but had no effect on tremor frequency. This study paves the way for comprehensive studies in larger cohorts to further elucidate the mechanism of TAPS. Highlights: Non-invasive peripheral nerve stimulation, also referred to as transcutaneous afferent patterned stimulation (TAPS), reduces hand tremor in essential tremor subjects. Longitudinal TAPS therapy alters cerebellar metabolism, which can be a cause or consequence of tremor reduction. Cerebellar-premotor region connectivity may play a role in the anti-tremor effects of TAPS.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.