RECRUITING

Targeted Motor Learning to Improve Gait for Individuals With Parkinson Disease

Description

The purpose of this research study is to determine how training to step with a metronome on both a treadmill, as well as overground, will influence the way that people with Parkinson disease walk. Using metronomes is commonly used in clinics, but the investigators will be using a combination of slow and fast frequencies to alter the way that people walk. The use of a slower frequency metronome on the treadmill is intended to help participants take larger steps. The use of a faster frequency metronome while walking overground is intended to help participants take faster steps.This will take place over 12 training sessions. Each session will be about an hour. It will include some walking tests and pictures of the brain (using MRI) before and after training.

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

The purpose of this research study is to determine how training to step with a metronome on both a treadmill, as well as overground, will influence the way that people with Parkinson disease walk. Using metronomes is commonly used in clinics, but the investigators will be using a combination of slow and fast frequencies to alter the way that people walk. The use of a slower frequency metronome on the treadmill is intended to help participants take larger steps. The use of a faster frequency metronome while walking overground is intended to help participants take faster steps.This will take place over 12 training sessions. Each session will be about an hour. It will include some walking tests and pictures of the brain (using MRI) before and after training.

Targeted Motor Learning to Improve Gait for Individuals With Parkinson Disease

Targeted Motor Learning to Improve Gait for Individuals With Parkinson Disease

Condition
Parkinson Disease
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * idiopathic Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr Stage 2-3)
  • * self-report the ability to walk uninterrupted for 10 minutes both overground and on a treadmill without therapist assistance
  • * comfortable gait speed \> 0.4 m/s and \< 1.2 m/s
  • * normal (or corrected to normal \[i.e., hearing aid\]) hearing
  • * deficits in gait continuity (e.g., shuffling, shortened strides, freezing, festination, bradykinesia, etc) based on observational gait analysis
  • * Movement Disorders Society - Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS-III) item 10 ≥1 and \<3
  • * be on stable doses of orally-administered levodopa
  • * age 50-80 years old
  • * contraindications to MRI (e.g., metal implants, claustrophobia, etc)
  • * cognitive deficits (Montreal Cognitive Assessment \[MoCA\] \< 26)
  • * concurrent Physical Therapy
  • * have undergone deep brain stimulation surgery
  • * cannot walk without therapist assistance
  • * uncontrolled cardiorespiratory/metabolic disease, or other neurological disorders or orthopedic injury that may affect gait.

Ages Eligible for Study

50 Years to 80 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,

Mike Lewek, PT, PhD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

2026-05-03