Physical Training Induced Plasticity of Motor Control Mechanisms in Parkinson's Disease Patients

There are experimental evidences of the important role of exercise in the PD, that induces similar effects to pharmacotherapy. So far, the mechanisms of the impact of these changes on the brain subcortical and cortical regions functioning, motor activities and cognitive functions are still not clear. The aim of this longitudinal human experiment is to examine the effects of cycle of 8-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on: (i) neurophysiological function of cortical motor structures and skeletal muscle actvity, (ii) psychomotor behavior critically associated with dopamine dependent neural structures functioning and (iii) neurotrophic factors' secretion level in blood. The investigators will recruit 40 PD individuals, who will be divided into two groups: one of them will perform two 8-weeks cycle of HIIT (PD-TR), and the other will not (PD-NTR). The investigators will recruit also 20 age-matched healthy controls (H-CO) as additional control group who will not perform the HIIT. All PD subjects will be examined during their medication "OFF-phase" pre HIIT and 1 week-, 1 month-POST cycle of HIIT. The subject from H-CO will be tested only once. To examine the assumed HIIT-induced changes in brain functioning the investigators will use: (i) EEG (recorded simultaneously with EMG) methods to assess an amplitude, location and directionality of brain electrical current of cortical regions and strength of intra-cortical network interactions during motor tasks performance. During the EEG experiments the subjects will perform (i) bimanual anti-phase DA level dependent motor tasks (during which the investigators will record EMG, force). The investigators will also assess motor and non-motor symptoms of PD and functional test of manual dexterity to evaluate a quality psychomotor behavior. Using these methods the investigators will determine in detail the mechanisms of functioning of the CNS in PD patients, with emphasis on the cortical interactions that are dependent on