DISCUSSION
PD, gait impairments
CORTEX
This study investigated the effect of taVNS on gait impairments and brain activity in PD. First, PD patients had decreased step length, arm ROM maximum, and turning average duration velocity, while increased turning average duration, stride velocity variability, and gait cycle relative to the HCs group. Simultaneously, improvements in gait characteristics, including step length, stride velocity, stride length, step length variability, gait cycle, and double support after 7‐day taVNS therapy, were significant. Second, PD patients had higher ΔHbOAccumulating literature uncovered that PD patients showed impaired pace, step length, and rhythmicity compared with age‐matched healthy adults.Cerebral gait control is mainly accomplished through direct and indirect pathways: the direct pathway from the M1 to the central pattern generators of the spinal cord participates in the automatic control of gait, and the indirect pathway from the PFC and PMA to the basal ganglia, and then to the brainstem motor center can regulate gait based on challenging situations.Apart from small sample size, some limitation should be considered. First, limited detection depth of fNIRS system hindered the detection of activation in subcortical structures. However, the portable fNIRS enabled us to capture functional alterations in the subjects' cerebral cortex during actual walking, which was beneficial for us to understand the neural mechanism of gait impairments in PD better. Second, dopaminergic therapies might modulate cortical function,