Practice as an intervention to improve speeded motor performance and motor learning in Parkinson’s disease

Patients with Parkinson's disease, who lose the dopaminergic projections to the striatum, are impaired in certain aspects of motor learning. Recent evidence suggests that, in addition to its role in motor performance, the striatum plays a key role in the memory of motor learning. Whether Parkinson's patients have impaired motor memory and whether motor memory is modulated by dopamine at the time of initial learning is unknown. To address these questions, we measured memory of a learned motor sequence in Parkinson's patients who were either On or Off their dopaminergic medications. We compared them to a group of older and younger controls. Contrary to our predictions, motor memory was not impaired in patients compared to older controls, and was not influenced by dopamine state at the time of initial learning. To probe post-learning consolidation processes, we also tested whether learning a new sequence shortly after learning the initial sequence would interfere with later memory. We found that, in contrast to younger adults, neither older adults nor patients were susceptible to this interference. These findings suggest that motor memory is preserved in Parkinson's patients and raise the possibility that motor memory in patients is supported by compensatory non-dopamine sensitive mechanisms. Furthermore, given the similar performance characteristics observed in the patients and older adults and the absence of an effect of dopamine, these results raise the possibility that aging and Parkinson's disease affect motor memory in similar ways.

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Movement without dopamine: striatal dopamine is required to maintain but not to perform learned actions

Biochemical Society Transactions ◽

10.1042/bst0350428 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 428-432 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

E. Dowd ◽

S.B. Dunnett

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Learning ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Striatal Dopamine ◽

Motor Deficits ◽

Functional Roles ◽

Gene Therapies ◽

Different Populations

The different populations of dopaminergic neurons located in the ventral mesencephalon have long been associated with distinct functional roles. The nigrostriatal projection is considered necessary for efficient motor performance, while the mesolimbocortical projection is usually associated with reward signalling. However, a number of recent studies in our laboratory suggest that the divergence between these two functions of dopamine is not as delineated as it may once have seemed. In these experiments, we have been developing improved behavioural methods for assessing the nature of the deficit in rats with unilateral dopamine lesions, as well as the efficacy of various experimental cell and gene therapies for Parkinson's disease. The behavioural task we selected is a lateralized nose-poking task in which rats are trained to respond to stimulus lights on either side of their heads. This task not only allows us to accurately measure aspects of motor performance, but, because it requires extensive training, it also allows us to assess aspects of motor learning. The concurrence of motor performance parameters (which are considered to be dependent on striatal dopamine) and motor learning parameters (which are thought to be dependent on mesolimbocortical reward signalling) within the same task has revealed some surprising consequences of dopamine lesions and neuroprotective/neuroreparative approaches to repair in rat models of Parkinson's disease. The data generated using this task suggest that the motor deficits that occur as a consequence of dopamine lesions may be downstream of a deficit in reward signalling. If so, this could redefine our perception of the role of dopamine in controlling motor function.

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Motor Learning in Parkinson's Disease: Underlying Effective Connectivity and Influential Factors

Case Medical Research ◽

10.31525/ct1-nct04269577 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Learning ◽

Effective Connectivity ◽

Influential Factors

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Cognition and motor learning in a Parkinson’s disease cohort

Neuroreport ◽

10.1097/wnr.0000000000001707 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽

Author(s):

Yu-Chen Chung ◽

Beth E. Fisher ◽

James M. Finley ◽

Aram Kim ◽

Andrew J. Petkus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Learning

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Urinary dysfunction with detrusor hyperactivity in women with Parkinson's disease cannot be blamed as a factor of worsening motor performance

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria ◽

10.1590/0004-282x20130101 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 71 (9A) ◽

pp. 591-595 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Raimundo Nonato Campos-Sousa ◽

Elizabeth Maria Aparecida Barasnevicius Quagliato ◽

Kelson James Almeida ◽

Inacio Augusto Dias de Castro ◽

Viriato Campelo

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Urinary Dysfunction ◽

Clinical Aspects ◽

Yahr Scale ◽

Disease Rating ◽

Detrusor Hyperactivity

Introduction Detrusor hyperactivity is the leading cause of urinary dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD). There are few studies correlating PD clinical aspects with this autonomic feature. Methods A cohort of 63 women with PD were prospectively examined for assessment of clinical aspects and disease severity using unified Parkinson's disease rating scale and Hoehn-Yahr scale, respectively. The urologic function was evaluated by the urodynamic study. Two groups were categorized at this time - groups with and without detrusor hyperactivity. After seven years, the same parameters were re-evaluated. Results Progression of the disease on mental scores was found in the group with detrusor hyperactivity. On follow-up, clinical symptoms and severity did not show significant worsening between the groups. Conclusion Detrusor hyperactivity is a frequent urodynamic finding in PD, and even though it is associated with dopaminergic dysfunction, it cannot be blamed as a factor of worsening motor performance, but is probably associated with poor cognitive and mental prognosis.

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Increased neuromuscular consistency in gait and balance after partnered, dance-based rehabilitation in Parkinson’s disease

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00813.2016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 118 (1) ◽

pp. 363-373 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Jessica L. Allen ◽

J. Lucas McKay ◽

Andrew Sawers ◽

Madeleine E. Hackney ◽

Lena H. Ting

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Skill ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Neuromuscular Control ◽

Muscle Coordination ◽

Short Term ◽

Behavioral Measures ◽

Motor Module ◽

Reactive Balance

Here we examined changes in muscle coordination associated with improved motor performance after partnered, dance-based rehabilitation in individuals with mild to moderate idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Using motor module (a.k.a. muscle synergy) analysis, we identified changes in the modular control of overground walking and standing reactive balance that accompanied clinically meaningful improvements in behavioral measures of balance, gait, and disease symptoms after 3 wk of daily Adapted Tango classes. In contrast to previous studies that revealed a positive association between motor module number and motor performance, none of the six participants in this pilot study increased motor module number despite improvements in behavioral measures of balance and gait performance. Instead, motor modules were more consistently recruited and distinctly organized immediately after rehabilitation, suggesting more reliable motor output. Furthermore, the pool of motor modules shared between walking and reactive balance increased after rehabilitation, suggesting greater generalizability of motor module function across tasks. Our work is the first to show that motor module distinctness, consistency, and generalizability are more sensitive to improvements in gait and balance function after short-term rehabilitation than motor module number. Moreover, as similar differences in motor module distinctness, consistency, and generalizability have been demonstrated previously in healthy young adults with and without long-term motor training, our work suggests commonalities in the structure of muscle coordination associated with differences in motor performance across the spectrum from motor impairment to expertise. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We demonstrate changes in neuromuscular control of gait and balance in individuals with Parkinson’s disease after short-term, dance-based rehabilitation. Our work is the first to show that motor module distinctness, consistency, and generalizability across gait and balance are more sensitive than motor module number to improvements in motor performance following short-term rehabilitation. Our results indicate commonalities in muscle coordination improvements associated with motor skill reacquisition due to rehabilitation and motor skill acquisition in healthy individuals.

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Effect of STN-DBS frequency on cortical excitability and motor performance in Parkinson's disease

Neurophysiologie Clinique ◽

10.1016/j.neucli.2019.10.068 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 49 (6) ◽

pp. 431

Author(s):

André Zacharia ◽

Isabel Sastre-Bataller ◽

Dejan Georgiev ◽

Ludvic Zrinzo ◽

Marwan Hariz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Cortical Excitability ◽

Stn Dbs

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Bilateral subthalamic stimulation impairs cognitive-motor performance in Parkinson's disease patients

Brain ◽

10.1093/brain/awn238 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 131 (12) ◽

pp. 3348-3360 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

J. L. Alberts ◽

C. Voelcker-Rehage ◽

K. Hallahan ◽

M. Vitek ◽

R. Bamzai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Performance ◽

Subthalamic Stimulation

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Prolonged practice is of scarce benefit in improving motor performance in Parkinson's disease

Movement Disorders ◽

10.1002/mds.20247 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 19 (11) ◽

pp. 1285-1293 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Rocco Agostino ◽

Antonio Currà ◽

Giampiero Soldati ◽

Loredana Dinapoli ◽

Luigi Chiacchiari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Performance

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Towards understanding neural network signatures of motor skill learning in Parkinson’s disease and healthy aging

British Journal of Radiology ◽

10.1259/bjr.20190071 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 92 (1101) ◽

pp. 20190071 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Evelien Nackaerts ◽

Nicholas D'Cruz ◽

Bauke W Dijkstra ◽

Moran Gilat ◽

Thomas Kramer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Motor Learning ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Cognitive Networks ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Point Of View ◽

Detailed Knowledge

In the past decade, neurorehabilitation has been shown to be an effective therapeutic supplement for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, patients still experience severe problems with the consolidation of learned motor skills. Knowledge on the neural correlates underlying this process is thus essential to optimize rehabilitation for PD. This review investigates the existing studies on neural network connectivity changes in relation to motor learning in healthy aging and PD and critically evaluates the imaging methods used from a methodological point of view. The results indicate that despite neurodegeneration there is still potential to modify connectivity within and between motor and cognitive networks in response to motor training, although these alterations largely bypass the most affected regions in PD. However, so far training-related changes are inferred and possible relationships are not substantiated by brain–behavior correlations. Furthermore, the studies included suffer from many methodological drawbacks. This review also highlights the potential for using neural network measures as predictors for the response to rehabilitation, mainly based on work in young healthy adults. We speculate that future approaches, including graph theory and multimodal neuroimaging, may be more sensitive than brain activation patterns and model-based connectivity maps to capture the effects of motor learning. Overall, this review suggests that methodological developments in neuroimaging will eventually provide more detailed knowledge on how neural networks are modified by training, thereby paving the way for optimized neurorehabilitation for patients.

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