Walking and Thinking - Brain Activity During Complex Walking in Aging and Parkinson's Disease

NCT05218213 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2020-03059
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 133
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Every-day life means being part of a complex environment and performing complex tasks that usually involve a combination of motor and cognitive skills. However, the process of aging or the sequelae of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD) compromises motor-cognitive interaction necessary for an independent lifestyle. While motor-cognitive performance has been identified as an important goal for sustained health across different clinical populations, little is known about underlying brain function leading to these difficulties and how to best target these motor-cognitive difficulties in the context of rehabilitation and exercise interventions. The challenge of improving treatments of motor-cognitive difficulties (such as dual-tasking and navigation) is daunting, and an important step is arriving at a method that accurately portrays these impairments in an ecological valid state. The investigators aim therefore to explore brain function during complex walking in healthy and PD by investigating the effects of age and neurological disease on motor-cognitive performance and its neural correlates during three conditions of complex walking (dual-task walking, navigation and a combination of both) using non-invasive measures of brain activity (functional near infrared spectrometry, fNIRS) and advanced gait analysis in real time in young, older healthy adults and people with PD.

Conditions

Parkinson Disease; Gait Disorders, Neurologic; Aging

Keywords

functional near infrared spectrometry; gait; physical activity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Functional near infrared spectrometry (fNIRS)

  The measurement of changes in concentration of HbO and HHb in the prefrontal cortex will be assessed using a NIRSPORT 2 (NIRx Medizintechnik, Berlin, Germany) device

  During the test session during all three conditions

• Gait performance during all conditions

  Gait variables such as stride time and/or velocity will be analyzed with the APDM mobility system.

  During the test session during all three conditions

• Dual-task performance-reaction time

  Cognitive performance of the dual task will be assessed as errors in the response to the Auditory stroop task.

  During the test session during dual task conditions

Secondary Outcomes (13)

• Cognitive function- composite score

  During the test session, takes about 50 minutes

• Cognitive function - verbal fluency

  During the test session, takes about 12 minutes

• Cognitive function - Attention and psychomotor processing speed

  During the test session, takes about 3 minutes

• Cognitive function - Episodic memory

  During the test session, takes about 30 minutes

• Cognitive function - Inhibition & task-set switching

  During the test session, takes about 5 minutes

Study Arms (3)

Healthy young

Healthy young adults

Other: No intervention

Healthy elderly

Healthy elderly adults

Other: No intervention

Parkinson's disease

Elderly with Parkinson's disease

Other: No intervention

Interventions

No intervention OTHER

Assessment of brain activity with fNIRS and behavioural assessments (motor, motor-cognitive and cognitive) during three complex walking conditions. 1. Dual-task walking with the auditory stroop task. 2. Navigational walking - a course consisting of a distribution of 45 and 90 degrees turns to the left and right 3. Navigational and dual-task walking (condition 1 and 2 together)

Healthy elderly; Healthy young; Parkinson's disease

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

We are studying three different populations healthy young adults, healthy elderly and elderly with Parkinson's disease. We have during 2021 conducted a pilot feasibility study including healthy young and elderly adults to refine the experimental protocol. Some of these subjects may be included in the full trial when the experimental protocol is shown to be feasible

You may qualify if:

• to 50 years

You may not qualify if:

• Disease or condition that affects cognition, gait or balance.
• Severe hearing or visual impairments that affects participation in the assessments
• Healthy elderly:
• ≥60 years of age,
• or more on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
• Disease or condition that affects gait or balance.
• Severe hearing or visual impairments that affects participation in the assessments
• Parkinson cohort:
• ≥60 years of age
• a clinical diagnosis of PD≤6 months prior to enrollment
• with the ability to walk without a mobility device for ≤5 minutes continuously.
• People with speech difficulties (e.g. aphasia)
• cognitive difficulties affecting the ability to understand and/or follow verbal/written - instructions
• severe freezing of gait
• Severe hearing or visual impairments that affects participation in the assessments

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Karolinska Institutet: lead
• Karolinska University Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Karolinska institutet

Stockholm, Solna, 17177, Sweden

Location

Related Links

• ParkMOVE OSF page

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Parkinson Disease; Gait Disorders, Neurologic; Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Parkinsonian Disorders; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Movement Disorders; Synucleinopathies; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Erika Franzén, PhD

  Karollinska Institutet

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 21, 2021
• First Posted: February 1, 2022
• Study Start: January 21, 2022
• Primary Completion: June 20, 2023
• Study Completion: June 28, 2023
• Last Updated: October 24, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: We plan to share this when applicable on OSF or similar
• Access Criteria: The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to Swedish and EU personal data legislation but are available from the principal investigator on reasonable request. Any sharing of data will be regulated via a data transfer and user agreement with the recipient.

Locations

SE (1)