Exercise, Brain Imaging, Cognition, and Gait in Parkinsonism

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Parkinson's Disease

• Registration Number: NCT02231073
• Lead Sponsor: Oregon Health and Science University

Brief Summary

There is emerging research detailing the relationship between balance/gait/falls and cognition. Imaging studies also suggest a link between structural and functional changes in the frontal lobe (a region commonly associated with cognitive function) and mobility. People with Parkinson's disease have important changes in cognitive function that may impact rehabilitation efficacy. Our underlying hypothesis is that cognitive function and frontal lobe connections with the basal ganglia and brainstem posture/locomotor centers are responsible for postural deficits in people with Parkinson's disease and play a role in rehabilitation efficacy. The purpose of this study is to 1) determine if people with Parkinson's disease can improve mobility and/or cognition after partaking in a cognitively challenging mobility exercise program and 2) determine if cognition and brain circuitry deficits predict responsiveness to exercise rehabilitation.

Design: This study is a randomized cross-over controlled intervention to take place at a University Balance Disorders Laboratory. The study participants will be people with Parkinson's disease who meet inclusion criteria for the study. The intervention will be 6 weeks of group exercise (case) and 6 weeks of group education (control). The exercise is a cognitively challenging program based on the Agility Boot Camp for people with PD. The education program is a 6-week program to teach people how to better live with a chronic disease. The primary outcome measure is the MiniBESTest and the secondary outcomes are measures of mobility, cognition and neural imaging.

Discussion: The results from this study will further our understanding of the relationship between cognition and mobility with a focus on brain circuitry as it relates to rehabilitation potential.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-08
• Study First Submitted: 2014-08-18
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-08-31
• Study First Posted: 2014-09-04
• Primary Completion: 2018-09
• Study Completion: 2018-10
• Status Verified: 2019-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2019-07-24
• Last Update Posted: 2019-07-25

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 94

Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Mini-BESTest score	Three timepoints; baseline, 6 weeks (after Arm 1), 12 weeks (after Arm 2)	The Mini-BESTest assesses dynamic balance via a 14-item test that measures multiple domains of balance including anticipatory postural adjustments, reactive postural control, sensory orientation, dynamic gait.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in MDS-UPDRS score	Three timepoints; baseline, 6 weeks (after Arm 1), 12 weeks (after Arm 2)	The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Motor Subscale III is a 10-minute assessment of motor signs related to severity of PD. If the investigators have trouble recruiting subjects of similar severity in the 2 groups, they will use the Postural Instability and Gait Disability(PIGD) Subscore (Items 27-30) as a covariate in data analysis.
Change in New Freezing of Gait questionnaire (NFOGQ) score	Three timepoints; baseline, 6 weeks (after Arm 1), 12 weeks (after Arm 2)	The New FoG of Gait Questionnaire will be used to identify 'freezers' (score \>3). NFOGQ is a self-report measure that begins with the presentation of a short (30-s) video to illustrate FoG during walking turning and starting gait and then follows with questions related to frequency and duration of each type of FoG episode.
Change in Activities of Balance Confidence (ABC) questionnaire score	Three timepoints; baseline, 6 weeks (after Arm 1), 12 weeks (after Arm 2)	Activities of Balance Confidence (ABC) questionnaire consists of 16 questions about how balance confidence limits participating in the community such as riding an escalator, walking in a parking lot and replacing a light. Subjects indicate their confidence from 0% to 100% they have in their balance when they imagine doing these tasks. A score of 80% indicates an average level of physical functioning for older adults.
Change in instrumented gait and balance measures	Three timepoints; baseline, 6 weeks (after Arm 1), 12 weeks (after Arm 2)	Balance: Postural sway during quiet stance with and without a cognitive task. Gait: Spatial and temporal gait metrics will be collected during walking, while wearing the Opal inertial sensors, with and without a cognitive task.; Turning: Smoothness of turning measure during 1 min turning in place (360 degree) and turns during 2 min walk, with and without a cognitive task.
Change in Cognitive measures	Three timepoints; baseline, 6 weeks (after Arm 1), 12 weeks (after Arm 2)	A battery of tests to measure different cognitive domains: inhibition (stroop, flankers, go/nogo, stop signal), shifting (set-shifting, trail making), updating (dot counting task), visual-spatial (judgement of line orientation), general cognition (SCOPA-COG), and other (social norms questionnaire, social behavior rating scale, simple reaction time test).
Change in PDQ-39 score	Three timepoints; baseline, 6 weeks (after Arm 1), 12 weeks (after Arm 2)	the Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life questionnaire with 39 questions reflecting 8 domains of quality of life (Mobility, ADL's, Emotional well-being, Stigma, Social support, Cognition, Communication, and Bodily discomfort). Each item scores from 0 (never) to 4 (always). Subscale scores and a summary index representing the global health-related quality of life will be calculated, with higher scores representing worse quality of life. Convergent validity is very good and discriminative validity for PD severity levels has been established. The PDQ will reflect limitations to participation in community mobility.
Neural Imaging	Baseline	DTI: High angular resolution diffusion imaging to assess white matter microstructure. Structural connectivity of the locomotor network will be assessed using probabilistic tractography.; rsfcMRI: An indirect assessment of communication between spatially disparate neural regions. Analysis is restricted to neural regions comprising the locomotor network including the supplementary motor area, subthalamic nuclei, mesencephalic locomotor regions (pedunculopontine and cuneiform nuclei), and the midline cerebellar locomotor region

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Oregon Health & Science University; 🇺🇸 Portland, Oregon, United States