Motor slowing and fatigue in Parkinson’s disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Early stage feasibility assessment of a non-pharmacological intervention for motor slowing and fatigue in Parkinson’s disease
IRAS ID
232195
Contact name
Giovanni d'Avossa
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bangor University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 12 months, 0 days
Research summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, neurodegenerative disorder affecting over 120,000 people in the UK, and an estimated 5m worldwide [1]. It largely reflects dopaminergic cell loss in the basal ganglia and consequent disruption to ganglia-thalamo-cortical motor circuits, including the supplementary motor area (SMA) [2, 3]. The primary symptoms of PD are motor in nature (tremor, rigidity, balance and gait disturbance), but are known to be accompanied, and at times preceded, by cognitive impairments, including psychomotor slowing [4]. Medical care costs. In the absence of a cure for the illness, a major challenge is to find interventions to ameliorate these debilitating motor symptoms. For most people with PD treatment typically involves long-term dopamine therapy - which is associated with a range of dose limiting complications, and considerable healthcare costs (which exceed £3.3b annually in the UK alone [5]). In this context, the prospect of developing effective complementary, non-pharmacological, interventions is of considerable importance. Such interventions offer the prospect of better long-term clinical management of motor symptoms, improving quality of life and reduced healthcare costs. The goal of this project is to help address this challenge by investigating the feasibility of a novel, hypothesis-driven, non-pharmacological intervention to improve motor function and diminish fatigue in PD. This novel approach is based on the use of hypothesis-driven cognitive task interventions to stimulate the motor system and ameliorate motor symptoms. It is important to note that this technique differs from cognitive stimulation (or so-called ‘brain training’) interventions that aim to increase resilience to cognitive - rather than motor, decline in illnesses such as dementia. This novel approach is inspired by recent neuroscience insights (including our own work at Bangor University) into the functional links between the SMA (a key component of the motor system in the human brain) and specific cognitive processes. By targeting these cognitive processes we can, in principle, stimulate functioning of these regions and ameliorate motor performance.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
17/WA/0335
Date of REC Opinion
7 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion