Stress is known to worsen tremors in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, possibly involving the noradrenergic system. A few studies have indicated that beta-blockers may improve PD tremor . A recent study has examined whether propranolol, a non-selective beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist, could reduce tremors in 27 PD patients with resting tremors. The study found that a stressful cognitive load task significantly increased tremor power compared to the resting stage.
Meanwhile, propranolol significantly reduced tremor power compared to placebo. Task-related brain activity was noted in a stress-sensitive cognitive control network, while tremor-related activity was observed in the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit. Propranolol notably reduced tremor-related activity in the motor cortex compared to placebo, regardless of cognitive load. These findings suggest that propranolol can…
