Preservation of function in Parkinson's disease: What's learning got to do with it?

Beeler, Jeff A.

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2011.09.040

Cited by 27 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 242 publications

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“…Evidence suggests that learning deficits may be more relevant in later stages of learning (e.g. automatization) [8] and that for some tasks, people with PD may show early but not continued improvement with practice potentially related to disproportionate dysfunction of the dorsolateral versus ventral striatum in mild to moderately severe PD [6, 8]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Motor learning and motor control are often viewed as separate processes and although their independence is debatable (see [8] for review), the distinction between performance and learning suggests that the motor control impairments observed in PD do not necessarily predict loss of ability to learn a motor task. Motor learning is thought to be largely non-declarative, often occurring via trial and error without conscious awareness (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…learning to ride a bike) [9, 10]. Converging evidence suggests that non-declarative learning depends upon the basal ganglia and dopamine [8, 11–13]. Although few reports on postural motor learning in PD are available, existing studies have focused on volitional balance control, demonstrating mixed results related to longer-term retention of the acquired skill [1, 3–5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Postural motor learning in Parkinson’s disease: The effect of practice on continuous compensatory postural regulation

2017

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Introduction Although balance training is considered the most effective treatment for balance impairments in Parkinson’s disease (PD), few studies have examined if learning for balance control remains intact with PD. This study aimed to determine if learning for automatic postural responses is preserved in people with PD. Methods Eleven participants with moderate PD (68 ± 6.4 years; H&Y: 2–3) on their usual medication maintained balance on a platform that oscillated forward and backward with variable amplitude and constant frequency. Participants completed 42 trials during one training session, and retention and transfer tests following a 24-hour delay. Performance was measured by comparing spatial and temporal measures of whole-body centre of mass (COM) with platform displacements. Learning was compared between participants with PD and previously reported, age-matched older adults [15]. Results Although postural responses in participants with PD were impaired compared to control participants, a majority of PD participants improved their postural responses with practice as revealed by reduced COM displacements and improved phase relationships between COM and platform motion. Rates of improvement were comparable between groups demonstrating preserved adaptive capacity for participants with PD. Similar to control participants, the PD group moved toward anticipatory COM control as a strategy for improving stability, exhibited short-term retention of performance improvements, and demonstrated generalizability of the learned responses. Rate of improvement with practice, but not retention, was related to severity of motor impairments. Conclusions Patients with moderate PD on medication demonstrate retention of improvements in automatic postural responses with practice suggesting that intrinsic postural motor learning is preserved in this group.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Postural motor learning in Parkinson’s disease: The effect of practice on continuous compensatory postural regulation

2017

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“…It has been argued that the LDR may result from an intracerebral reservoir of levodopa, though that view has been questioned recently [20,23]. Our HIGH FLU and 6-OHDA experiments demonstrate that motor function may be preserved in the setting of reduced DLS dopamine signaling, at least for a while, and provide an alternative BG “learning” explanation for the LDR [23]. It may be beneficial to start dopamine replacement early in the disease course to prevent aberrant learning by the dopamine-depleted striatum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociable effects of dopamine on learning and performance within sensorimotor striatum

et al. 2014

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Striatal dopamine is an important modulator of current behavior, as seen in the rapid and dramatic effects of dopamine replacement therapy in Parkinson Disease (PD). Yet there is also extensive evidence that dopamine acts as a learning signal, modulating synaptic plasticity within striatum to affect future behavior. Disentangling these “performance” and “learning” functions is important for designing effective, long-term PD treatments. We conducted a series of unilateral drug manipulations and dopamine terminal lesions in the dorsolateral striatum of rats highly-trained to perform brief instructed head/neck movements (two-alternative forced choice task). Reaction times and accuracy were measured longitudinally to determine if task behavior changed immediately, progressed over time, and/or persisted after drug withdrawal. Enhanced dopamine signaling with amphetamine caused an immediate, nonprogressive, and bilateral decrease in reaction times (RT). The altered RT distributions were consistent with reduced distance to threshold in the linear approach to threshold with ergodic rate (LATER) model of decision-making. Conversely, the dopamine antagonist flupenthixol caused experience-dependent, persistent changes in RT and accuracy indicative of a “learning” effect. These RT distributions were consistent with a slowed rate of approach to decision threshold. Our results show that dopaminergic signaling makes dissociable contributions to current and future behavior even within a single striatal subregion, and provide important clues for both models of normal decision-making and the design of novel drug therapies in PD.

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“…Associated with stimulus-response learning, the DLS is believed to be a primary substrate for the development of automaticity associated with implicit, procedural learning, particularly sequencing, critical for the fluid execution of complex motor actions [reviewed in Ref. (25)]. M1 exhibits intrinsic activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, important for motor skill and sequence learning (26).…”

Section: The Dorsolateral Striatum: Optimizing Cortical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Enemy within: Propagation of Aberrant Corticostriatal Learning to Cortical Function in Parkinson’s Disease

2013

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Motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease is believed to arise primarily from pathophysiology in the dorsal striatum and its related corticostriatal and thalamostriatal circuits during progressive dopamine denervation. One function of these circuits is to provide a filter that selectively facilitates or inhibits cortical activity to optimize cortical processing, making motor responses rapid and efficient. Corticostriatal synaptic plasticity mediates the learning that underlies this performance-optimizing filter. Under dopamine denervation, corticostriatal plasticity is altered, resulting in aberrant learning that induces inappropriate basal ganglia filtering that impedes rather than optimizes cortical processing. Human imaging suggests that increased cortical activity may compensate for striatal dysfunction in PD patients. In this Perspective article, we consider how aberrant learning at corticostriatal synapses may impair cortical processing and learning and undermine potential cortical compensatory mechanisms. Blocking or remediating aberrant corticostriatal plasticity may protect cortical function and support cortical compensatory mechanisms mitigating the functional decline associated with progressive dopamine denervation.

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Preservation of function in Parkinson's disease: What's learning got to do with it?

Cited by 27 publications

References 242 publications

Postural motor learning in Parkinson’s disease: The effect of practice on continuous compensatory postural regulation

Postural motor learning in Parkinson’s disease: The effect of practice on continuous compensatory postural regulation

Dissociable effects of dopamine on learning and performance within sensorimotor striatum

The Enemy within: Propagation of Aberrant Corticostriatal Learning to Cortical Function in Parkinson’s Disease

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