A treadmill training program in a gamified virtual reality environment in Parkinson’s Disease

What is it about?

Background Parkinson’s Disease (PD) impacts both movement and cognitive functions. While physiotherapy, especially treadmill gait training, shows promise in addressing movement difficulties in PD, it lacks effectiveness in improving cognitive aspects and maintaining long-term adherence. Innovations like virtual reality (VR) and gamification hold potential for enhancing both motor and cognitive training, as well as improving adherence. Additionally, people with Parkinson’s Disease (PWPD) typically experience reduced efficiency in learning new motor skills, but transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown promise in enhancing both motor and cognitive learning capabilities. Methods In this study, 78 participants with PD will be randomly assigned to one of three groups in equal numbers: Treadmill + Gamified Virtual Reality Environment (GVRE) + tDCS training group. Treadmill + GVRE training group. Treadmill training group. Each participant will engage in a treadmill gait training program over six weeks, comprising 12 sessions in total. The duration of each session will progressively increase from 20 to 45 minutes. Participants in groups (1) and (2) will also follow a GVRE training protocol, with those in group (1) receiving tDCS for the first 20 minutes of each session. Assessments will be conducted at the start of the study (baseline), immediately after the intervention, and six weeks post-intervention. The primary outcome measure will be gait speed under both single and dual-task conditions. Secondary outcomes will include other gait parameters, executive function tests for cognitive performance, and clinical assessments of disease stage, cognitive status, and physical condition. Discussion This randomized clinical trial introduces a novel neurorehabilitation protocol designed to improve both gait and cognitive function in PWPD. It also explores the potential of tDCS to enhance the effectiveness of motor and cognitive training. The findings from this study could significantly advance the understanding and treatment of motor and cognitive impairments in PWPD through a combined GVRE and tDCS-based approach.

Featured Image

Photo by XR Expo on Unsplash

Photo by XR Expo on Unsplash

Why is it important?

this trial will compare the effects of treadmill gait training in a GVRE and with anodal-tDCS on gait performance and cognitive aspects in patients with PD. The results obtained will be useful to clarify how virtual reality and anodal-tDCS can help patients with PD improve their physical and mental condition and retain the benefits for as long as possible.

Perspectives