Targeted Motor Learning to Improve Gait for Individuals With Parkinson Disease
Who can join
As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.
- Age
- 50 Years to 80 Years
- Sex
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Compensation
- Not stated
Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.
What to expect
No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.
What participation involves
- Procedures mentioned: MRI scans
Only what the study's summary and detailed description on ClinicalTrials.gov say. Time periods may describe the whole study or a part of it — ask the study team what applies to you.
Show the study's own words
- "It will include some walking tests and pictures of the brain (using MRI) before and after training."
- Compensation
- Not stated
- Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
- Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
- Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
- Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.
About this study
In plain language
This study tests whether walking to slow and fast metronome beats helps people with Parkinson disease take bigger and faster steps. It is for adults ages 50–80 who have walking problems but can walk without a therapist's help. The study includes 12 training visits of about one hour each, with walking tests and MRI brain scans before and after training.
The purpose of this research study is to determine how training to step with a metronome on both a treadmill, as well as overground, will influence the way that people with Parkinson disease walk. Using metronomes is commonly used in clinics, but the investigators will be using a combination of slow and fast frequencies to alter the way that people walk. The use of a slower frequency metronome on the treadmill is intended to help participants take larger steps. The use of a faster frequency metronome while walking overground is intended to help participants take faster steps.This will take place over 12 training sessions. Each session will be about an hour. It will include some walking tests and pictures of the brain (using MRI) before and after training.
Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.
Eligibility
Who can join
- Age 50–80.
- Have Parkinson disease with no known cause, at Hoehn and Yahr stage 2–3.
- Report being able to walk for 10 minutes without stopping or a therapist's help, both on a treadmill and on the ground.
- Walk at a comfortable speed above 0.4 and below 1.2 meters per second.
- Have normal hearing, with a hearing aid if needed.
- Have walking problems seen during a walking check, such as shuffling, short steps, freezing, or slow movement.
- Score at least 1 but less than 3 on item 10 of the MDS-UPDRS-III, a Parkinson movement rating scale.
- Take stable doses of levodopa by mouth.
Who can't join
- Cannot have an MRI scan, for example because of metal implants or fear of tight spaces.
- Have thinking or memory problems, with a score below 26 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).
- Are currently getting physical therapy.
- Have had deep brain stimulation surgery.
- Cannot walk without a therapist's help.
- Have uncontrolled heart, lung, or metabolic disease, which affects how the body uses energy; another nervous system disorder; or a bone, joint, or muscle injury that may affect walking.
Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.
Official eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * idiopathic Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr Stage 2-3) * self-report the ability to walk uninterrupted for 10 minutes both overground and on a treadmill without therapist assistance * comfortable gait speed \> 0.4 m/s and \< 1.2 m/s * normal (or corrected to normal \[i.e., hearing aid\]) hearing * deficits in gait continuity (e.g., shuffling, shortened strides, freezing, festination, bradykinesia, etc) based on observational gait analysis * Movement Disorders Society - Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS-III) item 10 ≥1 and \<3 * be on stable doses of orally-administered levodopa * age 50-80 years old Exclusion Criteria: * contraindications to MRI (e.g., metal implants, claustrophobia, etc) * cognitive deficits (Montreal Cognitive Assessment \[MoCA\] \< 26) * concurrent Physical Therapy * have undergone deep brain stimulation surgery * cannot walk without therapist assistance * uncontrolled cardiorespiratory/metabolic disease, or other neurological disorders or orthopedic injury that may affect gait.
Study sites (1)
NC
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Chapel Hill, NC 27599Michael Lewek, PT, PhD · Study contactMore trials in Chapel Hill