BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment is among the most burdensome non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's Disease (PD) and has been associated with hippocampal atrophy. Exercise has been reported to enhance neuroplasticity in the… Click to show full abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive impairment is among the most burdensome non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's Disease (PD) and has been associated with hippocampal atrophy. Exercise has been reported to enhance neuroplasticity in the hippocampus in correlation with an improvement of cognitive function. We here present data of the Training-PD study, which was designed to evaluate effects of an Exergaming training protocol on neuronal plasticity in PD. METHODS We performed a six-week Exergaming training, combining visual stimulating computer games with sportive exercises in n = 17 PD patients and n = 18 matched healthy controls. Volumetric segmentation of hippocampal subfields in T1- and T2-weighted MRI images and BDNF serum levels were analyzed before and after the training protocol. RESULTS PD patients showed a group-dependent significant volume increase of the left hippocampal subfields CA1, CA4/Dentate gyrus (DG) and Subiculum after the six-week training protocol. The effect was most pronounced in the left DG of PD patients, who showed a significant smaller percentual volume compared to healthy controls at baseline, but not at follow-up. Both groups showed a significant increase of serum BDNF levels after training. CONCLUSIONS This study indicates that Exergaming might be a suitable approach to induce hippocampal volume changes in PD patients. Further and larger studies need to verify our findings.
               
Click one of the above tabs to view related content.