If you have Parkinson’s disease (PD) and are staying active, you’re likely doing yourself a big favor.
A new study shows that regular physical activity can help slow cognitive decline in people with PD. The findings support the belief that staying active is a key intervention for patients—one that could delay the disease’s progression, alleviate motor symptoms, and improve patients’ quality of life, according to the study, published online Aug. 6 in Neurology®.
“Understanding the long-term effects of regular physical activity on cognitive function is crucial because cognitive decline is a prevalent and highly debilitating non-motor symptom in patients with PD,” writes lead author Patricia Diaz-Galvan, PhD, of Virgen del Rocío University Hospital/CSIC/University of Seville and the Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Area (CIBERNED) at the National Institute of Health Carlos III in Spain, and colleagues.
Previous PD research closely linked cognitive impairment to the degeneration of gray matter in the brain, the researchers note. Studies also have shown an association between deficits in memory, executive function, and visuospatial abilities in patients with PD and a greater amount of thinning in two parts of the brain, the temporoparietal and superior frontal cortices.
To see whether they could find an association between regular physical activity and a drop in gray matter neurodegeneration, the researchers used data from the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative, an international study started over a decade ago by The Michael J. Fox Foundation, academic scientists, and industry partners. The study included 120 patients with early PD who had undergone a series of MRI scans and regular assessments of their physical activity. The participants had a mean age of 60.8 years, and 33 percent were women. The study also included 164 healthy controls.
The researchers used the MRI scans to measure different parts of the brain and then analyzed the impact being physically active had on those measurements over time. They also looked at how changes to the brain’s structure affected the link between regular physical activity and cognitive function. Participants’ physical activity was measured using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly.
The researchers found an association between regular physical activity and a slower rate of neurodegeneration in the brain’s temporoparietal cortex and limbic areas, regions they note contribute “to preserved cognitive function and improved long-term outcomes.” Specifically, the physical activity was associated with slower cortical thinning in several temporoparietal cortical regions as well as with slower volume loss in the hippocampus and the amygdala.
“Our study linked brain changes to physical activity through multiple evaluations over time,” researchers say.
The findings “suggest that physical activity is essential for long-term neuroplasticity and should be part of a continuous PD management strategy,” researchers say. But further studies and clinical trials will be needed to test that theory as well as to see whether the changes that occurred in the brain from the physical activity last.
Ultimately, the researchers say, their findings “would help to shape future clinical trials and enhance current treatment guidelines for PD including physical activity as a key interventional factor.”