Enhanced brain functional connectivity and activation after 12-week Tai Chi-based action observation training in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

Aging Neuroscience

Deyu Wang¹  Yu Shi¹  Lin Meng¹  Dong Ming²  Zhuo Li³  Xiaodong Zhu³  Jinghui Zhang³  Hanna Lu⁴ 

[1] Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China;Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China;Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Precision Instrument and Opto-Electronics Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China;Department of Neurology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China;Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China;

关键词: Parkinson’s disease;    motor-cognitive intervention;    default mode network;    restingstate functional MRI;    rehabilitation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnagi.2023.1252610

 received in 2023-07-04, accepted in 2023-09-12,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionMotor-cognitive interactive interventions, such as action observation training (AOT), have shown great potential in restoring cognitive function and motor behaviors. It is expected that an advanced AOT incorporating specific Tai Chi movements with continuous and spiral characteristics can facilitate the shift from automatic to intentional actions and thus enhance motor control ability for early-stage PD. Nonetheless, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. The study aimed to investigate changes in brain functional connectivity (FC) and clinical improvement after 12 weeks of Tai Chi-based action observation training (TC-AOT) compared to traditional physical therapy (TPT).MethodsThirty early-stage PD patients were recruited and randomly assigned to the TC-AOT group (N = 15) or TPT group (N = 15). All participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans before and after 12 weeks of training and clinical assessments. The FCs were evaluated by seed-based correlation analysis based on the default mode network (DMN). The rehabilitation effects of the two training methods were compared while the correlations between significant FC changes and clinical improvement were investigated.ResultsThe results showed that the TC-AOT group exhibited significantly increased FCs between the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex and cerebellum crus I, between the posterior inferior parietal lobe and supramarginal gyrus, and between the temporal parietal junction and clusters of middle occipital gyrus and superior temporal. Moreover, these FC changes had a positive relationship with patients’ improved motor and cognitive performance.DiscussionThe finding supported that the TC-AOT promotes early-stage PD rehabilitation outcomes by promoting brain neuroplasticity where the FCs involved in the integration of sensorimotor processing and motor learning were strengthened.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Meng, Wang, Shi, Li, Zhang, Lu, Zhu and Ming.