Protocol: Mental Practice Combined With Physical Practice of Gait in Parkinson's Disease.

Summary

Among the impairments associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), gait disturbance is one of the most injurious to the independence in daily living activities and the quality of life of people living with Parkinson's disease (PPD). Despite a considerable amount of research, there is no consensus about the most efficient physiotherapeutic approach to improve gait disturbance. Mental practice (MP) is considered an efficient strategy to improve the motor performance of healthy individuals and people with stroke. However, there is little evidence about its therapeutic results as a tool to improve gait performance in PPD. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of mental gait practice associated with physical practice (PP) to improve the gait performance of PPD.

Conditions

• Parkinson Disease

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Experimental training

Each block of MP consists of 5 mental walking attempts with 10 imagined steps. Participants, seated comfortably, eyes closed, will be asked to imagine themselves walking as of a first-person perspective, without any overt physical movement, in four different conditions: habitual speed, as fast as possible, overcoming obstacles and memorizing a name of a specific medication. Each block of PP consists of 5 physical walking attempts, with 10 steps. Participants will be asked to walk in 4 different conditions: habitual speed,as fast as possible, overcoming obstacles and memorizing a name of a specific medication.

BEHAVIORAL

Control training

Each block of MP consists of 5 mental walking attempts with 10 imagined steps. Participants, seated comfortably, eyes closed, will be asked to imagine themselves seated appreciating a beautiful landscape as of a first-person perspective, without any overt physical movement, in four different contexts: in a carriage, in a hot air balloon, in a boat and in a zepelin. Each block of PP consists of 5 physical walking attempts, with 10 steps. Participants will be asked to walk in 4 different conditions: habitual speed,as fast as possible, overcoming obstacles and memorizing a name of a specific medication.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Brasilia

  collaborator OTHER

• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Sao Paulo General Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Maria Elisa P Piemonte, PhD · Department of Physioterapy , Communication Science&Disorders, Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2019-01-31

Primary Completion

2019-08-31

Completion

2019-12-31

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations