Cortical activity when walking in people with Parkinson’s disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cortical activity when walking in people with Parkinson’s disease: a functional near-Infrared spectroscopy study
IRAS ID
211952
Contact name
Annette L Pantall
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle Joint Research Office
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which is characterised by motor dysfunctions such as postural instability and gait deficits. Gait impairments increase the risk of falls and have with negative consequences on quality of life. Gait dysfunction in PD becomes more prominent with increasingly complex environments or tasks. Walking within the community rarely involves the single task of walking. Instead, the individual frequently engages in additional tasks such as talking, avoiding obstacles, precision stepping or cueing. This complex walking is far more challenging than simple walking as additional parts of the brain are called into action to ensure the individual can perform two or more tasks concurrently. A specific area of the brain that plays an important role during complex walking is the prefrontal cortex (PFC). This area is associated with executive function which includes attention, working memory and the flexibility to switch patterns. A greater understanding of the neural pathways involved in complex walking would facilitate development of targeted therapeutic interventions for PD.
Activity of the PFC can be indirectly monitored noninvasively using functional near infra-red spectroscopy (fNIRS) which records levels of oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin. These measures are related to neuronal activity through neurovascular coupling. Studies using fNIRS have shown that PFC activity is greater during complex walking than simple walking in healthy young and older adults. In people with PD we anticipate greater differences in the PFC activity during complex tasks due to attentional and motor deficits. This study primarily aims to investigate cortical activity gait during simple and complex walking in young, old and PD participants.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NE/0074
Date of REC Opinion
5 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion