Actively Recruiting
Targeted Motor Learning to Improve Gait for Individuals With Parkinson Disease
Led by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Updated on 2025-11-06
45
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
141 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
Sponsors
U
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lead Sponsor
E
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Collaborating Sponsor
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
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.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Targeted Motor Learning to Improve Gait for Individuals With Parkinson Disease
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Idiopathic Parkinson's disease at Hoehn and Yahr Stage 2 or 3
- Ability to walk uninterrupted for 10 minutes both overground and on a treadmill without therapist assistance
- Comfortable walking speed greater than 0.4 m/s and less than 1.2 m/s
- Normal or corrected-to-normal hearing (e.g., with hearing aid)
- Gait difficulties such as shuffling, shortened strides, freezing, festination, or bradykinesia based on observation
- Movement Disorders Society - Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS-III) item 10 score of 1 or 2
- Stable doses of orally-administered levodopa
- Age between 50 and 80 years old
You will not qualify if you...
- Any contraindications to MRI such as metal implants or claustrophobia
- Cognitive deficits with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score below 26
- Currently receiving physical therapy
- History of deep brain stimulation surgery
- Unable to walk without therapist assistance
- Uncontrolled heart, lung, metabolic diseases, other neurological disorders, or orthopedic injuries affecting gait
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
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Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
M
Mike Lewek, PT, PhD
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Masking
SINGLE
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Model
PARALLEL
Primary Purpose
TREATMENT
Number of Arms
3
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