Partnered Dance Aerobic Exercise as a Neuroprotective, Motor and Cognitive Intervention in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a difficult to treat condition that impairs mobility and thinking. It is not fully treated by drugs and surgery. Two priority issues for most people with PD are "OFF-time" and Cognitive impairment. Even under best medical management, 74% of people with PD experience "OFF-time," which is when medications are just not working right. OFF-time severely impacts both quality of life and thinking. Cognitive problems are found even in newly diagnosed people with PD and are very difficult to treat. However, the investigators' research has shown that partnered dance-aerobic exercise (PDAE) reduces OFF-time on the official test for OFF-time of the Movement Disorders Society, the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale-IV, (MDS-UPDRS-IV). PDAE improves other symptoms too. Benefits of the therapy have lasted for at least one-month after PDAE sessions stopped. PDAE provides aerobic exercise during an improvisational, cognitively-engaging physical activity. Cognitive engagement is a critical component of PDAE. Previous research showed PDAE improved spatial cognition, the ability to navigate, to mentally picture shapes and paths in the mind and to know the relationships between objects, people and places. Also, the investigators showed with imaging of the brain using a magnet in a scanner that twice weekly PDAE training increases activity in brain regions used in thinking and decision making. The investigators know that exercise benefits mobility and cognitive problems. The investigators even think exercise might protect brain cells in people with PD. But no one has really been able to show with biomarkers that exercise is protective of brain cells in humans.