None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
We will evaluate whether a course of cognitive training can reduce symptoms of FOG in PD. This study will randomize patients into either a 7-week program of cognitive training or a sham control condition. Treatment response will be assessed by video recordings of specific walking tasks (TUG), taken before and after training. In addition, functional brain imaging whilst patients perform a validated virtual reality gait paradigm will be used to determine the brain activation patterns associated with improvements in FOG. This project will hopefully identify an effective novel treatment for FOG that does not involve pharmacological or surgical intervention. The use of brain imaging will also allow us to see why patients might have differential responses to therapy. Identifying the nature of these relationships will hopefully advance our understanding of freezing and lead to new directions for targeting therapy.
Interventions
The intervention will comprise of a 7-week targeted cognitive training program, aimed at improving aspects of cognition including attention, set-shifting, and processing speed in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients suffering from freezing of gait (FOG). The program will involve two 2-hour sessions per week where patients will engage in computer-based cognitive training in addition to taking part in group-based discussion. This will be conducted in a specifically designed computer-based cognitive t
The intervention will comprise of a 7-week targeted cognitive training program, aimed at improving aspects of cognition including attention, set-shifting, and processing speed in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients suffering from freezing of gait (FOG). The program will involve two 2-hour sessions per week where patients will engage in computer-based cognitive training in addition to taking part in group-based discussion. This will be conducted in a specifically designed computer-based cognitive training laboratory, based at the Brain & Mind Research Centre.
Sponsors
Professor Simon JG Lewis
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
This study will recruit 100 PD patients with a clinical history of FOG. We aim to recruit participants based on information obtained from medical assessments (including subjective report of symptoms and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 24 or greater) as well as self-report measures of freezing (e.g. a positive score on question 3 of the FOG Questionnaire) completed at the PD Research Clinic located at the Brain and Mind Centre.
Exclusion criteria
MMSE of less than 24
Outcome results
None listed