Exercise and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Increasing Brain Plasticity in Parkinson's Disease

Launched by NYU LANGONE HEALTH · Apr 13, 2016

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Twenty-four PD patients (n=24) will be randomly assigned to receive one of two interventions for a duration of two weeks. In Group 1, subjects will participate in daily sessions of sham-rTMS followed by supervised aerobic exercise (Sham rTMS+Aerobic); in Group 2, subjects will participate in a combination of rTMS and supervised aerobic exercise (Real rTMS+Aerobic). Serum BDNF-TrkB signaling in lymphocytes and TMS-based electrophysiological measures of LTP-like plasticity will be measured. A comparison of such measures in a group of patients with PD and in a group of age-matched controls (n=...

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Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Diagnosis of PD according to the UK Brain Bank Criteria, confirmed by a neurologist with expertise in movement disorders;
• • Hoehn and Yahr stage II to III;
• • On a stable medication regimen since at least 2 weeks prior the enrolment in the study and, in the view of the treating neurologist, unlikely to require medication adjustments in the following 3-6 months.
• • Inclusion Criteria (Healthy Controls)
• • Male or Female; aged 35-85
• • Exclusion Criteria (Healthy Controls)
• • History of seizure disorder, including febrile seizures;
• • Neurological disorder including PD, stroke, traumatic brain injury, fainting spells or syncope of unknown cause(s);
• • Major or unstable medical illness;
• • Pacemakers, neurostimulators, tattoos or metal foreign bodies in the head area (dental fillings are allowed);
• • Untreated depression, or score of \>20 on Beck Depression Inventory II;
• • Taking any of the following medications within the six weeks prior to the start of the study: imipramine, amitriptyline, doxepin, nortriptyline, maprotiline, chlorpromazine, clozapine, foscarnet, ganciclovir, ritonavir, theophylline, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, tadalafil, vardenafil, avanafil, and sildenafil;
• • Diagnosis of dementia, or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) \<20;
• • Any clinically significant abnormality on vital signs
• • Cardiopulmonary limitations: untreated high blood pressure, history of heart insufficiency (class II-III), coronary vascular disease, angina, arrhythmia, dyspnea on exertion and asthma