Physical Training Induced Plasticity of Motor Control Mechanisms in Parkinson's Disease Patients

Summary

There are experimental evidences of the important role of exercise in the PD, that induces similar effects to pharmacotherapy. So far, the mechanisms of the impact of these changes on the brain subcortical and cortical regions functioning, motor activities and cognitive functions are still not clear. The aim of this longitudinal human experiment is to examine the effects of cycle of 8-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on: (i) neurophysiological function of cortical motor structures and skeletal muscle actvity, (ii) psychomotor behavior critically associated with dopamine dependent neural structures functioning and (iii) neurotrophic factors' secretion level in blood. The investigators will recruit 40 PD individuals, who will be divided into two groups: one of them will perform two 8-weeks cycle of HIIT (PD-TR), and the other will not (PD-NTR). The investigators will recruit also 20 age-matched healthy controls (H-CO) as additional control group who will not perform the HIIT. All PD subjects will be examined during their medication "OFF-phase" pre HIIT and 1 week-, 1 month-POST cycle of HIIT. The subject from H-CO will be tested only once. To examine the assumed HIIT-induced changes in brain functioning the investigators will use: (i) EEG (recorded simultaneously with EMG) methods to assess an amplitude, location and directionality of brain electrical current of cortical regions and strength of intra-cortical network interactions during motor tasks performance. During the EEG experiments the subjects will perform (i) bimanual anti-phase DA level dependent motor tasks (during which the investigators will record EMG, force). The investigators will also assess motor and non-motor symptoms of PD and functional test of manual dexterity to evaluate a quality psychomotor behavior.

Using these methods the investigators will determine in detail the mechanisms of functioning of the CNS in PD patients, with emphasis on the cortical interactions that are dependent on synthesis and DA transmission. The results of the study will help to answer the fundamental questions about HIIT induced neuroplasticity in PD patients, as well as complement the lack in knowledge about the mechanisms of exercise-induced changes in PD, and as a consequence it could enrich the golden standard of treatment in PD from pharmacotherapy toward implementation of precise evidence based rehabilitation.

Conditions

• Parkinson Disease
• Physical Activity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

exercise

exercised three times a week in the 8-week HIIT program

BEHAVIORAL

conventional physical therapy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Wroclaw Medical University

  collaborator OTHER

• University School of Physical Education, Krakow, Poland

  collaborator OTHER

• Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jarosław Marusiak, PhD · Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

55 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2012-11-08

Primary Completion

2015-11-09

Completion

2016-11-09