Digital training with motor-cognitive strategies to improve movement in Parkinson’s disease

Dr Judith Bek   University College Dublin & University of Toronto

Parkinson’s disease is increasingly common and significantly impacts on healthcare systems and individuals’ quality of life. Although medications can help to control symptoms, new non-medical therapeutic approaches are also needed to improve outcomes for people with Parkinson’s.

Dr Judith Bek’s research combines three approaches that show potential to improve movement in Parkinson’s: mental practice, dance, and brain stimulation. Mental practice through watching and imagining movement activates parts of the brain that are also used to produce movement. These processes of mental practice can be therapeutically effective for people with Parkinson’s and could be applied within different activities. Dr Bek’s research will examine how mental simulation could contribute to beneficial effects of dance for people with Parkinson’s. Dr Bek’s research will first use motion capture technology to investigate how watching and imagining dance affects movement in people with Parkinson’s and older adults without a neurological condition. The research will also test how stimulating areas of the brain affects movement after watching and imagining. Dr Bek will use a safe and non-invasive method of brain stimulation, which temporarily alters brain activity by passing a weak electrical current through electrodes on the scalp. Dr Bek will then work with health professionals, practitioners and people with Parkinson’s to design a training app for watching, imagining, and practicing movements at home. Dr Bek will test the training in people with Parkinson’s and explore potential effects of combining the training with brain stimulation.

The knowledge from this research could be used to develop accessible and motivating home-based therapies and strategies to improve symptoms and quality of life for people with Parkinson’s. Dr Bek is mentored through the fellowship by Professor Nuala Brady, University College Dublin and Professor Timothy Welsh, University of Toronto.