The Effect of the Reaction Training in Parkinson's Disease

Summary

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Patients frequently experience decreased amplitude and speed of movements, balance, and gait problems. Although the basal ganglia have been the target neuroanatomical region for movement disorders in Parkinson's disease for many years, recent neuroscience studies have shown that the cerebellum also plays an important role in the disease and is an important alternative target for treatment applications. While medical applications are becoming current for this purpose, there is a significant deficiency in the literature in terms of physiotherapy applications. Reaction and dual task are activities that have been shown to naturally stimulate the cerebellum. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of combined exercise training, which includes dual skills and reaction activities that have been shown to stimulate the cerebellum in PD, on the reaction time, intuitive postural adjustments, and balance of PD. Our study is an original study that targets the cerebellum in PD with reaction training according to current neuroscience results, aims to contribute to the field of neuroscience and translational medicine, and has no previous example in the literature. This study will include patients diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease by a specialist physician. The PD patients included in the study will be randomly divided into two groups. The reaction group will be applied a combined reaction training program consisting of 15 exercises, including a light reaction measurement and an exercise system. The conventional group will be applied an exercise program consisting of only 15 exercises without reaction training. The patients included in the study will be subjected to reaction time, amplitude of intuitive postural adjustments, balance, and functional mobility assessments before and after the training. The light reaction measurement and exercise system will be applied for the measurement of reaction time of the volunteers, the static-dynamic balance assessment device for the assessment of intuitive postural adjustments and the static-dynamic balance assessment device for balance assessments, and the Timed Up and Go Test will be applied to assess functional mobility. At the end of the study, we aim to demonstrate the effect of combined exercise training targeting the cerebellum compared to conventional exercise training in Parkinson's patients, to create clinical outcomes for the inclusion of the cerebellum in more physiotherapy programs in Parkinson's disease, and to provide clinical outcomes for physiotherapists for a new exercise protocol, as well as making scientific contributions to the fields of translational medicine and neuroscience.

Conditions

• Parkinson' Disease

Interventions

OTHER

Reaction Training

* The exercise list consists of 15 different exercises that aim to both shorten reaction time and improve stability with upper and lower extremity movements in different positions. In addition, the program includes both dual motor tasks and difficulties that require the physiotherapist to give the patient constantly changing motor tasks (tasks related to the color of the light to be touched, giving the command to read lights that are lit in different directions) and a second cognitive task. * Each station will be worked for 3 minutes, with at least 1 minute of rest between stations. Sessions will be planned by selecting the exercises in the exercise list for 60 minutes. * Appropriate modifications will be made to the station so that the difficulty of the exercise in the relevant station will be moderate (12-15 points) according to the Borg scale.

OTHER

Conventional Exercises

The exercises used in reaction training will be applied as in conventional training without reaction training system. The difficulty of the exercise will be increased by changing the support surface and ground properties, taking the difficulty perceived by the individual as the criterion, as in reaction training. The exercise list consists of 15 different exercises that aim to improve stability with upper and lower extremity movements in different positions. In addition, the program includes both dual motor tasks and difficulties that require the physiotherapist to give the patient constantly changing motor tasks and a second cognitive task. Each station will be worked for 3 minutes, with at least 1 minute of rest between stations. Sessions will be planned by selecting the exercises in the exercise list for 60 minutes. Appropriate modifications will be made to the station so that the difficulty of the exercise in the relevant station will be moderate (12-15 points for Borg Scale).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Gazi University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-02-17

Primary Completion

2025-11-05

Completion

2025-11-06

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations