High Intensity Cycling Improves Spatiotemporal and Kinematic Gait Parameters in Parkinson’s disease Patients: 2623 Board #143 June 2 9

PURPOSE: Gait dysfunction is a cardinal symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Alterations in gait are more pronounced during dual-task conditions where a cognitive and motor task are performed simultaneously. We have demonstrated that high-intensity aerobic exercise programs improve gait function under single-task (ST) conditions, however its impact on gait function while dual-tasking (DT) is unknown. A fundamental gap exists in understanding how high intensity exercise may impact DT performance. The aim of this project was to determine the changes in gait performance under ST and DT conditions following an 8-week cycling program. METHODS: Eleven individuals with idiopathic PD were recruited to participate in an 8-wk stationary cycling intervention. Participant’s gait was analyzed before and after the intervention using the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) virtual reality system to assess upper and lower extremity kinematics. Participants walked on a treadmill at a self-selected speed while performing three cognitive tasks: N- back, Serial 7’s and Verbal fluency. RESULTS: MDS-UPDRS scores significantly improved from pre to post testing (-4.72±5.54). Participants demonstrated significant increases in velocity (0.169±0.61 m/s)(p=0.01), arm swing path length, hip joint range of motion (ROM), and knee joint ROM during both ST and DT conditions after the cycling intervention when compared to baseline. The ST condition was significantly greater than DT conditions for all parameters. Change in path length during ST conditions from pre to post testing (0.086±0.135 m) was significantly greater than the N-Back (0.020±0.136 m), Serial 7’s (0.018±0.130 m), and Verbal fluency (-0.002±0.119 m) (p=0.005). Hip and knee ROM for single task were also found to be significantly greater (p<0.05) when compared to DT. CONCLUSIONS: High-intensity cycling can improve gait dysfunction in PD. Changes occurred in both ST and DT conditions, with greater improvements seen under ST conditions. The increases found after the 8-wk cycling intervention suggest that high-intensity exercise elicits centrally mediated changes in the brain, allowing participants to allocate fewer cognitive resources to gait performance. This study was supported by a grant through the National Institute of Health R01NS673717.