PAS Balance Training for Parkinson Disease (PD)

Chang Gung University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: PD - Parkinson's Disease

Treatments: Procedure: Weight shift training and APA feedback; Procedure: Paired associative stimulation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06598891

PD_002

Details and patient eligibility

About

Gait initiation (GI) difficulty is a common problem in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), often linked to impaired anticipatory postural adjustments (APA). Currently, there are no targeted rehabilitation programs designed specifically for GI-related APA in PD patients. Research has shown that while motor learning deficits are common in PD, explicit learning is better preserved than implicit learning. Therefore, a GI-related APA training system using an explicit learning model could be particularly effective for this population.

During motor learning, long-term potentiation (LTP) increases the excitability of the primary motor cortex. Paired associative stimulation (PAS) has been demonstrated to induce LTP-like changes in the motor cortex, making it a potential priming method to enhance motor learning. However, the priming effect of PAS targeted at leg muscles and the motor cortex on motor learning related to GI-APA has not been previously studied.

The objectives of this study are:

1. To investigate the effects of explicit and implicit training on GI-related APA.
2. To evaluate the priming effect of PAS on GI-related APA training and the associated plasticity changes in the motor cortex.

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 20+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Clinical diagnosis of Parkinson disease.

Exclusion criteria

• Musculoskeletal injuries on legs
• Osteoporosis.
• Any peripheral or central nervous system injury or disease patients.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

PD APA training group

Experimental group

Description:

Weight shift training and APA feedback.

Treatment:

Procedure: Weight shift training and APA feedback

PD PAS group

Experimental group

Description:

Using PAS to regulate brain plasticity

Treatment:

Procedure: Paired associative stimulation