Does exergaming promote neurofunctional changes in Parkinson´s disease? A pilot clinical study

Abstract

Introduction Previous studies have demonstrated beneficial effects in people with Parkinson´s disease trained with exergames. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of them evaluated whether these effects are sustained by neurofunctional changes. Objective To evaluate neurofunctional effects of a training, by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging, in people with Parkinson´s disease. Methods This study was a blind, randomized, and controlled pilot clinical trial with crossover design. The participants were submitted to an evaluation including cognitive performance and functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after the WiiTM or control trainings. Trainings were applied for 10 days, in two consecutive weeks. Participants starting with WiiTM training were then moved to the control training and vice versa. A wash-out period of 45 days between the trainings was respected. Results Memory, executive and visuo-spatial functions, and attention were significantly improved compared to baseline (p < 0.05). No differences were observed in cognition compared to the control training. Though not significant, results of functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses suggested that WiiTM training could promote improvements on the brain functional connectivity especially in areas involved in motor execution, planning, visual, memory and somatosensory functions. Conclusion In people with Parkinson´s disease, an intensive WiiTM training improved cognitive performance that underlined neurofunctional changes in areas involved in cognitive processing.