Parkinson Disease 10
Conditions
Keywords
Exercise, Parkinson's Disease, Positron Emission Tomography, fMRI
Brief summary
Parkinson's disease is caused by a reduction of dopamine causing motor deficits. The investigators are studying how exercise can help PD patients by increasing dopamine release in an area of the brain that coordinates movement, the striatum. The investigators will enroll PD patients into two groups; one group will complete a 12-week aerobic exercise program and the other will complete a 12-week control program including yoga and stretching only. The investigators will measure changes in dopamine release before and after either 12-week intervention. Subjects will complete motor and cognitive questionnaires in addition to functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography neuroimaging.
Detailed description
The purpose of this study is to determine the basis for symptomatic and disease modifying benefits of exercise in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although the benefits of exercise in PD have been purported for several decades, only recently have there been controlled reports of symptomatic benefits in Parkinson's disease in terms of bradykinesia, postural balance and quality of life. There have been unsubstantiated suggestions that exercise may improve cognition and mood in PD. The mechanisms underlying such benefits are poorly understood. Exercise may induce dopamine release, thereby contributing to improved motor function in the dorsal striatum, and to enhanced mood and reduced apathy in the ventral striatum. We will test the hypotheses that exercise results in altered synaptic plasticity in the form of altered connectivity in response to aerobic exercise and reward-induced dopamine release. We will assess networks of functional connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging and measure dopamine release with positron emission tomography (PET).
Interventions
OTHERActive Exercise
OTHERPassive Exercise
Sponsors
Pacific Parkinson's Research Centre
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Idiopathic PD according to UK Brain Bank criteria (modified to permit inclusion of subjects with a family history) 2. Ages 40-70 3. Mild to moderate Parkinsonism (Hoehn & Yahr stages I-III)
Exclusion criteria
General
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PET | 3 months | Dopamine release will be assessed using positron emission tomography (PET) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| fMRI | 3 months | fMRI will be performed to record response to rewarding stimuli |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical Measures | 3 months | Motor function will be assessed using the MDS-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, finger tapping and Purdue Pegboard. Cognitive function will be assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Wisconsin Card-Sorting Task, Trail-Making B Test and a computerized reaction time test. Mood and apathy will be assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory and Starkstein Apathy Scale. |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed