title: A 12-Week Cycling Training Regimen Improves Gait and Executive Functions Concomitantly in People with Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: Background:There is increasing evidence that executive functions and attention are associated with gait and balance, and that this link is especially prominent in older individuals or those who are aﬄicted by neurodegenerative diseases that affect cognition and/or motor functions. People with Parkinson's disease (PD) often present gait disturbances, which can be reduced when PD patients engage in different types of physical exercise (PE), such as walking on a treadmill. Similarly, PE has also been found to improve executive functions in this population. Yet, no exercise intervention investigated simultaneously gait and non-motor symptoms (executive functions, motor learning) in PD patients.Objective:To assess the impact of aerobic exercise training (AET) using a stationary bicycle on a set of gait parameters (walking speed, cadence, step length, step width, single and double support time, as well as variability of step length, step width and double support time) and executive functions (cognitive inhibition and flexibility) in sedentary PD patients and healthy controls.Methods:Two groups, 19 PD patients (Hoehn and Yahr ≤2) and 20 healthy adults, matched on age and sedentary level, followed a 3-month stationary bicycle AET regimen.Results:Aerobic capacity, as well as performance of motor learning and on cognitive inhibition, increased significantly in both groups after the training regimen, but only PD patients improved their walking speed and cadence (allp< 0.05; with no change in the step length). Moreover, in PD patients, training-related improvements in aerobic capacity correlated positively with improvements in walking speed (r= 0.461,p< 0.05).Conclusion:AET using stationary bicycle can independently improve gait and cognitive inhibition in sedentary PD patients. Given that increases in walking speed were obtained through increases in cadence, with no change in step length, our findings suggest that gait improvements are specific to the type of motor activity practiced during exercise (i.e., pedaling). In contrast, the improvements seen in cognitive inhibition were, most likely, not specific to the type of training and they could be due to indirect action mechanisms (i.e., improvement of cardiovascular capacity). These results are also relevant for the development of targeted AET interventions to improve functional autonomy in PD patients.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Functional Neuroimaging UnitMontreal, QC, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nadeau
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Functional Neuroimaging UnitMontreal, QC, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Centre for Research in Aging, Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric CentreMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Ovidiu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lungu
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Functional Neuroimaging UnitMontreal, QC, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duchesne
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Functional Neuroimaging UnitMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Ève
authors.initials: MÈ
authors.lastname: Robillard
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Functional Neuroimaging UnitMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bore
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; PERFORM Centre, Concordia UniversityMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bobeuf
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Réjean
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Plamondon
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Functional Neuroimaging UnitMontreal, QC, Canada; McGill Movement Disorder Clinic, McGill UniversityMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Anne-Louise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Lafontaine
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Freja
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gheysen
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; PERFORM Centre, Concordia UniversityMontreal, QC, Canada; Department of Medicine, University of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Montreal Heart InstituteMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bherer
authors.affiliation: Research Center of the University Institute of Geriatrics of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada; Functional Neuroimaging UnitMontreal, QC, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of MontrealMontreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doyon
keywords: Parkinson’s disease; aerobic; exercise; gait; stationary bicycle