Clinical trial NCT03245216: Facilitating Motor Skill Learning in Parkinson's Disease
Official title: Facilitating Motor Skill Learning by Aerobic Training in Parkinson's Disease
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Parkinson Disease
Keywords: Parkinson's Disease
motor learning
aerobic exercise
cardiovascular exercise
balance
postural instability
motor skill
Lead sponsor: University of Erlangen-Nürnberg
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: German Foundation for Neurology
name: Department of Molecular Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University Erlangen-Nürnberg
First posted: 2017-08-10
Enrollment: 28
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The study is designed to assess the effects of aerobic exercise on motor learning in Parkinson patients. Specifically, the investigators examine whether a single bout of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, performed immediately before task practice, facilitates the acquisition and retention of a motor skill. In a cross-over design, participants will be randomly allocated to either the intervention group (aerobic exercise before motor learning) or control group (rest before motor learning).

Detailed description: Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by motor control impairments, such as gait disturbances and postural instability. Beneficial effects of exercise are attributed to mechanisms of neuroplasticity, and task-specific motor training is consequently considered to be a motor learning process. While motor learning is preserved in persons with Parkinson's disease, slower acquisition rates and reduced retention have been reported compared to healthy individuals.

Thus, it is crucial to identify strategies to enhance motor learning in people with Parkinson's disease. Recent studies have accumulated evidence to show that aerobic exercise can facilitate motor skill learning. However, these observations are limited to healthy individuals and have not been addressed in individuals with neurologic conditions.

The present study is designed to assess the effects of a single bout of moderate intensity aerobic exercise on a motor skill learning task in patients with Parkinson's disease.

In a cross-over design, participants will be randomly allocated to one of two groups. Both groups will practice balancing on a specific stability platform (motor learning task). The experimental group will additionally perform a bout of aerobic exercise (cycle ergometer) immediately before the motor learning task, while the control group will rest before practice. Subsequently, the acquisition and one-day retention of the motor learning task will be examined.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Parkinson's disease stage 1-3 on Hoehn \& Yahr scale
* Ability to stand unaided and walk without an assistive device
* Stable medication during the study period

Exclusion Criteria:

* On-off and wearing-off phenomena
* Unstable medical or psychiatric illness
* Clinically relevant cardiovascular or orthopaedic disease
* Severe polyneuropathy
* Cognitive impairment
* Smoking \> 10 cigarettes/day
* Caffeine \> 6 cups of coffee/day
* Alcohol \> 50 g (two glasses)/day

Primary outcomes:
measure: Motor Learning (Precision)
timeFrame: Baseline (first trial of practice day 1), 1 day (last trial of practice day 1), and 7 days (first trial of 7-day retention session).
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Motor Learning (Variability)
timeFrame: Baseline (first trial of practice day 1), 1 day (last trial of practice day 1), and 7 days (first trial of 7-day retention session).
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Erlangen
country: Germany
facility: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Institute of Sport Science and Sport, Gebbertstr. 123b
Study officials:
affiliation: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Institute of Sport Science and Sport
name: Simon Steib, Dr.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Steib S, Wanner P, Adler W, Winkler J, Klucken J, Pfeifer K. A Single Bout of Aerobic Exercise Improves Motor Skill Consolidation in Parkinson's Disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 2018 Oct 22;10:328. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2018.00328. eCollection 2018.