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The Role of EEG in Identifying Cognitive Changes in Parkinson's Disease

Effects of Cognitive-motor Dual-Task Training and tDCS on Brain Electrical Activity Assessed by EEG and Cognitive Performance in Patients With Parkinson's Disease: a Randomized, Double-blind, Controlled Clinical Trial.

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06145776
Enrollment
36
Registered
2023-11-24
Start date
2023-08-02
Completion date
2024-04-30
Last updated
2023-12-01

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cognition Disorder, EEG With Abnormally Slow Frequencies, Parkinson Disease

Keywords

Parkinson; EEG; cognition; dual-task cost

Brief summary

This study is a group controlled clinical trial. Parallel study, patients aged 40-80 years, with Parkinson disease. Twelve sessions, three times a week, for 30 minutes. Training will consist of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation linked to tredmill training, in 3 blocks of 7 minutes, and adicionally to the Experimental Group, dual-task cognitive-motor exercises, simultaneously. The investigators will use the folowwing instruments: Auditory Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Timed-up-and-go ST and DT, UPDRS II and III and Eletroencefalography (EEG). The objective is to examine cognitive alterations on PD pacients due to intervention and the relationships between baseline outcomes in responders and non-responders to therapy.

Detailed description

Background: Parkinson disease (PD) is one of the most common age-related brain disorders. PD is defined primarily as a movement disorder, with the typical symptoms being resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. In addition to the defining dopamine-related motor symptoms, however, PD is increasingly recognized as a heterogeneous multisystem disorder involving other neurotransmitter systems, such as the serotonergic, noradrenergic and cholinergic circuits. Thus, a wide variety of nonmotor symptoms (NMS) linked with these neurotransmitters are commonly observed in patients with PD. Cognitive decline is among the most common and important NMS. Robust evidence indicates that in comparison with age-matched groups without PD, people with PD exhibit more rapid decline in a number of cognitive domains - in particular, executive, attentional and visuospatial domains, but also memory. In recent years, research has focused on the pre-dementia stages of cognitive impairment in PD, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Several longitudinal studies have shown that MCI is a harbinger of dementia in PD, although the course is variable, and stabilization of cognition - or even reversal to normal cognition - is not uncommon. A variety of biomarkers have been studied, some using novel structural and functional imaging techniques, and have documented in vivo brain changes associated with cognitive impairment. Patients with Parkinson's disease have difficulty performing a dual-task, a condition present in everyday life. It is possible that strategies such as Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation can be associated with motor training enriched with dual-task and cognitive training to improve the performance of two concurrent tasks. It is currently unclear whether specific tasks and clinical conditions of PD patients have different results after the intervention. Therefore, the proposed randomized controlled trial will examine the effects of a intervention protocol on brain eletric activity and cognitive outcomes on PD patientes and the relationships between baseline outcomes in responders and non-responders to therapy. Discussion: This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention protocol with transcranial direct current stimulation, dual-task motor-cognitive training in patients with Parkinson's disease. The study will also highlight whether, by qEEG analysis, the clinical factors and variability between individuals that could interfere in the efficacy intervention and influence the therapeutic effect.

Interventions

OTHERtDCS + tredmill training (Standart trehab training)

Standart Rehab training will consist in 20 min treadmill gait training associated to active atDCS F3 2mA for 20 min.

OTHERCognitite-motor Dual Task Training (DT training)

The dual-task training protocol (DT) will consist in cognitive exercises (verbal fluency, mental screening tasks, discrimination, decision-making and reaction time tasks) and motor exercises (walking while carrying a tray with only one empty glasscarrying a glass while walks, change peaces from one pocket to another, looking from one side to another while walking)

Sponsors

Federal University of Paraíba
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

Participants will be randomly allocated, using an online generator (www.random.org), into two groups (1:1): CG) tDCS active + gait training; EG) tDCS active + gait training + dual-task. This sequence will be performed independently and remotely by a blinded investigator, who will have no knowledge of other study procedures. The concealed allocation process will be conducted using sequentially numbered sealed opaque envelopes. The outcome assessors and patients will be blinded to the procedures.

Intervention model description

This study is a randomized, double-blind, group controlled clinical trial. Parallel study,

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* being diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease by a neurologist based on definitive evidence of responsiveness to levodopa at the start of the disease and the history of progressive hypokinesia with asymmetric onset. PD will be diagnosed based on Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank (PDSBB) criteria, as described in Hughes et al. (1992) * Age between 40 and 70 years, with no distinction for sex, schooling level or other sociodemographic characteristics; * disease staging between 1.5 and 3, according to the modified Hoehn and Yahr scale (Hoehn and Yahr, 1998); * undergoing regular pharmacological treatment with levodopa (equivalent dose \> 300 mg) or taking antiparkinsonian medication, such as anticholinergics, selegiline, dopamine agonists, and COMT (catechol-O-methyl transferase) inhibitors for at least 4 weeks prior intervention; * score of more than 24 points on the Mini-Mental State Examination (Folstein et al., 1975); * not exhibiting other associated neurological diseases; and * no musculoskeletal and/or cardiorespiratory changes that could compromise gait.

Exclusion criteria

* diagnosis of atypical Parkinson's disease; * neuropsychiatric comorbidities; * convulsions, metal clips and/or pacemaker; * deep brain stimulation implant; * history of epilepsy; neurosurgery; * traumatic brain injury; * alcohol abuse or drug dependency; * associated diseases of the peripheral or central nervous system; * undergoing physical therapy at another location; * inability to walk 10 meters; * presence of important dyskinesia that prevents the participant from sitting in a chair; * abnormal and persistent increase in systemic blood pressure before or during training, after three measurements taken 5 min apart-Cut-off: systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg and/or diastolic ≥ 90 mm Hg (Malachias et al., 2016); * not understanding any of the training protocol stages; chemical scalp treatment within the previous 30 days, and experiencing severe pain and/or discomfort that precludes performing the proposed activities.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
EEG outcomes30 daysPSD of theta, alpha and beta and alpha/theta ratio and beta/theta ratio of 6 ROIs (righ and left: frontal, temporoparietal and occipital)
clinic outcome30 daysDual-task cost

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Trail Making Test part B (TMT-B)30 daysTMT-B is scored based on how long it takes to complete the test, within 5 minutes.
Total Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)30 daystotal score obtained at Montreal Cognitive Assesment, for a possible maximum of 30 points. A final total score of 26 and above is considered normal.
Movement Disorder Society - Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale PART II Score Compare insights MDS-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part II (UPDRS-II)30 daysScore of part II of UPDRS, Motor experiences of daily living: 13 items. Score range: 0-52,\[8\] 12 and below is mild, 30 and above is severe
Stroop Test30 daysscore of total Stroop test (Stroop Colors and Stroop Words). Word, color, and color-word T-Scores of 40 or less are considered low. Word, color, and color-word T-Scores above 40 or are considered normal.
domains of MoCA30 daysScore of ecah subscale obtained at Montreal Cognitive Assesment: visuospatial/executive (5 points); nomination (3 points); memory (5 points for delayed recall); attention (6 points); language (3 points); abstraction (2 points); and orientation (6 points).

Countries

Brazil

Contacts

Primary ContactSuellen M Andrade, Doctor
suellen.andrade@academico.ufpb.br83993812744

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026