NCT01835652

The Effects of Exercise in Parkinson's Disease

The Effects of Exercise in Parkinson's Disease.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 18 (actual)
• Sponsor: Pacific Parkinson's Research Centre · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

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).

Conditions

• Parkinson Disease 10

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Active Exercise
OTHER	Passive Exercise

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-04-01
• Primary completion: 2015-03-01
• Completion: 2015-03-01
• First posted: 2013-04-19
• Last updated: 2021-03-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada