Compensatory mechanisms for motor control deficits in Parkinson’s disease: understanding the relationship between cueing, cognition and underlying brain activity.

This project aims to gain insight into the mechanisms of compensation for motor control deficits in PD. The central hypothesis is that essential motor control deficits inherent to freezing can be influenced by external stimuli, attention and executive function, factors which might interact with each other. Changes in behavior and neural recruitment as a result of compensation will be addressed in cluster of 4 studies:
1. Study 1 aims to clarify the changes in motor behavior as a result of cueing and dual tasking during gait and performance of a 180° turn.
2. Study 2 aims to clarify the effects of cueing and dual tasking on the motor correlates of uni- and bilateral upper limb movement.
3. Study 3 aims to understand the contribution of relatively hypo- and hyperactive brain networks during cueing and dual tasking using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).
4. Study 4 aims to gain insight in the cognitive aspects of dual tasking by studying the neuropsychological profile of freezers and non-freezers and their performance on a motor sequence learning (serial reaction time) task with cueing and in dual task condition.