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Biofeedback-based Motor Learning to Ameliorate Freezing of Gait

NCT01223781 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 40

Last updated 2010-10-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Objective/Rationale:

The investigators objective is to demonstrate that an intervention program based on motor learning principles can be applied to train subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) who suffer from freezing to walk in a way that minimizes the occurrence of freezing. Since sufficient motor learning capabilities are preserved in PD, the investigators hypothesize that an intervention program that targets the time periods just prior to an approaching freezing episode can modify the walking strategies so that the episode will now be averted.

Project Description:

The freezing burden will be quantified in subjects with PD before and after 6 weeks of training. Two types of interventions (20 subjects in each group) will be tested: 1) Open-loop group (OLG); 2) Closed-loop group (CLG). Each session of the OLG training includes walking courses aimed at provoking freezing episodes. The experimenter will trigger an auditory rhythmic stimulation (RAS) in walking conditions likely to invoke freezing (e.g., turning) and the subject will learn to synchronize his/her gait with the auditory cues, i.e., to keep the walking pace and coordination and, as a result, to avoid freezing. Similar principles will apply for the CLG training; however, the RAS will be elicited automatically by a device that recognizes an approaching freezing episode.

Relevance to Diagnosis/Treatment of Parkinson's Disease:

If even partially successful, the investigators will show, for the first time that freezing of gait is amenable to motor learning and that appropriate training with external cueing can alleviate these motor blockades. While future studies will be needed to further assess long-term efficacy and other important questions about clinical efficacy and the mechanisms involved, this study should go a long way towards improving the investigators understanding of freezing of gait and its amenability to appropriate therapy.

Anticipated Outcome:

The investigators anticipate that after intensive training, the central nervous system (CNS) of subjects with PD will be able to anticipate impending freezing episodes based on awareness of the environmental conditions (e.g., an approaching turn) and/or based on sub-conscious response to a deteriorating gait pattern. As a result, an automated motor response that paces and coordinates gait will be internally triggered by the CNS and the approaching freezing episode will be averted. The overall freezing burden will therefore decrease in trained subjects.

Conditions

  • Gait
  • Parkinson Disease

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Biofeedback-based motor learning for PD

Prior to freezing episodes, auditory stimulation is triggered

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

    lead OTHER_GOV

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
40 Years
Max Age
85 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2011-01-31
Primary Completion
2012-01-31
Completion
2012-05-31

Countries

  • Israel

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01223781 on ClinicalTrials.gov