Application of LLM Care and Related Affective Computing Systems on People With Parkinson's Disease
Condition: Parkinson Disease
MeSH terms: Parkinson Disease
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The study is an adaptation of the Long Lasting Memories (LLM) (NCT02267499) and the
      subsequent LLM Care (NCT02313935) projects in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD). The
      study aims to examine the viability and any potential benefits of cognitive and physical
      training, as offered via the ICT-based (non-pharmacological) intervention of LLM Care, on
      people with PD. It is worth investigating whether this intervention can offer a better
      quality of life in patients with PD and counterbalance the often associated with the PD
      disease neurodegeneration. To evaluate any physical, cognitive, behavioral, and neuroplastic
      changes and measure the influence (affective status of participant) of the training on the
      pathological population, the study utilizes somatometric and neuropsychological assessments
      and neuroscientific (electroencephalographic, EEG-related) indices, as well as affective
      computing systems.
    

Detailed description: 
      Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a highly prevalent chronic neurodegenerative disease of the
      central nervous system, with both motor and non-motor symptoms, having a high impact on the
      quality of life of the patients. There is still no cure available for individuals with PD but
      only pharmaceutical treatments that manage the symptoms, thus non-pharmaceutical treatments
      such as physical and cognitive training are of great importance. This study aims to evaluate
      the benefits of the LLM Care (NCT02313935) Integrated Healthcare System
      (https://www.llmcare.gr/en/home/), which is a successful example of commercializing the LLM
      (NCT02267499) research program (http://www.longlastingmemories.eu/), in patients with PD. The
      LLM Care (non-pharmaceutical) intervention is an integrated training system that targets
      nondemented and demented aging population and adopts an approach of cognitive and physical
      training to improve the quality of life and prolong the functionality of the elders. The
      physical training (PT) component of the LLM, WebFitForAll, was developed by the research team
      of the Medical Physics Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Aristotle University of
      Thessaloniki. WebFitForAll is an effective physical platform that strengthens the body and
      enhances aerobic capacity, flexibility, and balance. The cognitive training (CT) component of
      the LLM is a Greek adaptation of the BrainHQ online interactive environment, and comprises
      six categories with 29 brain exercises with hundred levels of difficulty. The exercises focus
      on attention, memory, brain speed, people skills, navigation, and intelligence. The target
      population is PD patients which were classified according to their cognitive state as
      PD-cognitively normal (PD-CN) and PD-mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). Both PD-CN and
      PD-MCI followed similar training schemes of the intervention, two times per week for one hour
      for a total of 10 weeks (aiming at 20 sessions/individual). Specifically, the patients were
      categorized as follows: (i) LLM training group, where participants attended a training
      protocol consisting of pseudo-randomized physical and cognitive exercises (30 minutes of
      cognitive and 30 minutes of physical training), (ii) physical training group, whereas
      participants underwent only physical training (one hour of physical training), and (iii)
      cognitive training group, in which participants performed cognitive tasks (one hour of
      cognitive training). The main goal of this study is to quantify the effects of implementing
      the LLM Care intervention on patients with PD, determine any benefits in physical status,
      cognition, behavior, and brain function, and eventually assess if adopting a cognitively and
      physically stimulating lifestyle can offer a better quality of life in this pathological
      group. All of the patients were evaluated at baseline (pre) and exit (post) via EEG measures
      and a battery of routinely used clinical and neuropsychological tests. Additionally, the
      training platform utilizes affective computing systems to evaluate the affective status of
      all participants throughout the training and to establish a pleasant learning environment for
      all participants.
    

Intervention name(s): webFitForAll; BrainHQ
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): PT training participants use the webFitForAll exergaming computer platform as the physical training component (PT); CT training participants use the language adapted version of the BrainHQ program as the cognitive training component (CT)
Other intervention name(s): PT; CT
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants are assigned to a group following different interventions
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: Physical Training; Cognitive Training; EEG; Neuroplasticity