FINGER TAPPING MAY STIMULATE A GENERAL MECHANISM TO MAKE PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE WALK FASTER
Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8828-2676
Advisor Information
Dr. Vivien Marmelat
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
26-3-2021 12:00 AM
End Date
26-3-2021 12:00 AM
Abstract
Timing is a major component of movement slowed by Parkinson’s disease. Movement speed can be momentarily restored by moving in time with metronomes. Recent evidence has suggested that people with Parkinson’s disease only need to perform finger tapping training to a metronome to increase their walking speed after the removal of a metronome, but it is not well known why this is possible nor what effects the amount of transfer from finger tapping to walking. Cross education may cause this transfer and is believed to require the activity of certain areas of the brain (supplementary motor area and premotor cortex), which can be measured with functional near infrared spectroscopy. Comparing walking cadence before and after finger tap training can provide insight about the amount of transfer and having participants reproduce the metronome after it is removed in training will provide insight into the amount of retained movement rate. Walking prior to finger tapping training will provide a speed for the metronomes in training and to test if finger tapping is truly generalized with the same mechanism participants will train with fast metronomes and one slow metronome. As a control, participants will also have to listen to a metronome to determine if the rate generalization is due to finger tap training. Our hypothesis is that the premotor cortex will be active during training, supplementary motor in the post training walk, and these cortical activations will be related to reproduction of movement rate and increased walking speed.
FINGER TAPPING MAY STIMULATE A GENERAL MECHANISM TO MAKE PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE WALK FASTER
Timing is a major component of movement slowed by Parkinson’s disease. Movement speed can be momentarily restored by moving in time with metronomes. Recent evidence has suggested that people with Parkinson’s disease only need to perform finger tapping training to a metronome to increase their walking speed after the removal of a metronome, but it is not well known why this is possible nor what effects the amount of transfer from finger tapping to walking. Cross education may cause this transfer and is believed to require the activity of certain areas of the brain (supplementary motor area and premotor cortex), which can be measured with functional near infrared spectroscopy. Comparing walking cadence before and after finger tap training can provide insight about the amount of transfer and having participants reproduce the metronome after it is removed in training will provide insight into the amount of retained movement rate. Walking prior to finger tapping training will provide a speed for the metronomes in training and to test if finger tapping is truly generalized with the same mechanism participants will train with fast metronomes and one slow metronome. As a control, participants will also have to listen to a metronome to determine if the rate generalization is due to finger tap training. Our hypothesis is that the premotor cortex will be active during training, supplementary motor in the post training walk, and these cortical activations will be related to reproduction of movement rate and increased walking speed.