Researchers studying the impact of long-term exercise on the brain believe that completing multi-week cycling programmes may restore neural connections in Parkinson’s patients.
That’s the finding of the recently published paper ‘Electrophysiological correlates of dynamic cycling in Parkinson’s disease’ which recently appeared in Clinical Neurophysiology and is the work of University Hospitals’ researchers.
The study notes that there has long been a known positive impact of exercise for Parkinson’s patients, the latest research hoping to shine a light on why this may be the case.
Nine people with Parkinson’s Disease were required to take part in 12 dynamic cycling sessions over a four-week period. During each session they viewed a connected screen and were instructed to pedal at 80rpm, a cadence communicated to them via an on-screen balloon which they had to keep above water.
Due to the adaptive quality of the bikes, which also had motor assistance, riders were kept guessing as to how much effort to apply and the bike could add or reduce resistance based on the rider’s effort.
All of the study’s participants had previously been implanted with deep brain stimulation devices to treat their motor symptoms and measure brain signals, these recordings used to assess brain signals before and after each exercise session.
“Our goal was to understand the immediate and long-term effects of the exercise in that region of the brain where the electrodes are implanted, which is also the same area where Parkinson’s pathology is evident,” one of the researchers Dr Shaikh commented.
While there were not any immediate brain signal changes noted, the study found that after 12 sessions there was “a measurable change in the brain signals responsible for motor control and movement”.
The researchers accept the study was limited by the fact modern DBS systems only capture signals from regions where their electrodes are implanted, meaning that other brain areas contributing to the observed patterns may remain unmonitored. However, lead author Pajakta Joshi is optimistic future research will be able to analyse this further, bringing “us closer to revolutionary and personalised treatments for Parkinson’s Disease”.
“There may be a broader circuit involved. Numerous upstream and downstream pathways could be influenced by exercise, and it’s possible that we’re inducing a network-level change that drives the improvement in motor symptoms,” Joshi explained.
Dr Shaikh added: “We’ve already established over years of study that dynamic cycling regimens are beneficial for treating Parkinson’s tremor. The latest study adds the use of deep brain stimulation and an ongoing exercise program to visualise how long-term exercise might be rewiring neural connections in the brain.”
One of the study’s patients Amanda Ensman, who is pictured in the image illustrating this article, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease 12 years ago and said exercise “really does make a difference”.
“Biking helped me with a variety of symptoms I was struggling with, including my gait, walking and increased my energy levels,” she reported.