Multi-limb Dual-task Control in Parkinson's Disease

N/ACompletedNCT03662009

A.T. Still University of Health Sciences60 enrolled

Overview

People with Parkinson disease commonly experience difficulty driving, which requires the arms and legs to do different tasks simultaneously. Driving difficulties can lead to isolation, depression, loss of independence and mobility, and increased incidence of car accidents. Through understanding the impact of Parkinson disease on mechanisms underlying attention and multi-limb control, training and rehabilitation programs can better focus on the needs of drivers with Parkinson disease. The proposed study aims to address this need by taking measures of simulated driving at one point in time. Subjects with PD are tested at a single time point when they are at their "best" point in their day and on another day when they are at their worst and are about to take their next dose of medication. Healthy age-matched subjects are not taking anti-parkinson medication so are tested at only one point.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Parkinson Disease

Interventions

multilimb dual taskOTHER

control of arm and foot in two attentional contexts of simulated driving

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * have a clinical diagnosis of mild to moderate idiopathic PD (Hoehn \& Yahr stages 1-3), * hold a valid driver's license and drive at least once a week, and * be capable of providing informed consent and complying with study procedures. Control group participants will be healthy, neurologically intact individuals, age-matched to within 2 years of the PD subjects. Exclusion Criteria: * impaired global cognition (i.e., a score of \< 20 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) screening tool) * sensory loss in the lower limb as assessed by clinical test of vibration perception at the ankle, * orthopedic, visual, or neurological conditions that would prevent performance of the experimental tasks, * inability to complete and pass the assessment testing, * history of neurological illness such as head trauma, previous stroke, epilepsy, demyelinating disease, or * complicating medical problems such as diabetes.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Dual Task Effect on Arm and Foot Tasks

The Dual Task Effect is the performance measure of the arm and foot task, respectively, in the dual task relative to the single task, expressed as a percentage.

Time frame: Subjects with PD: Two 90-minute sessions within a week; Healthy controls: One 90-minute session, observation of simulated driving.