Cross-Education In Individuals With Parkinson’s Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) usually have one side of their bodies more affected than the other. Our hypothesis is that unilateral resistance training (RT) may cause changes in motor control and strength of the most affected side when compared with bilateral RT. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of unilateral vs bilateral RT on motor control and strength in individuals with PD. METHOD: The sample consisted of 17 individuals diagnosed with PD, who were randomly divided into unilateral training group (UTG) (n = 9) and bilateral training group (BTG) (n = 8). In total, 24 RT sessions were performed. The first six training sessions were focused on training familiarization. Before (T0), during (T12), and after (T24) the intervention, the following data were collected: fine motor control using the Nine-Hole Peg test and the Box and Blocks test; upper limb strength using a handgrip strength dynamometer; and lower limb strength using an isokinetic dynamometer. All tests were performed unilaterally. For statistical analysis of data, the Friedman analysis of variance (ANOVA) [3 (TIME) × 4 (GROUP)] was used, as well as the Mann-Whitney U test and the Wilcoxon test. RESULTS: Peak torque at 60º/s on the right side at T12 in UTG was significantly higher compared with BTG. Peak torque on the right side was significantly lower at T24 compared with T12 and T0 in UTG. CONCLUSION: Short-term unilateral RT was inefficient at causing changes in motor control and strength in the limb most affected by the disease through cross-education and was unable to reduce bilateral deficit.

Keywords

• motor skills
• muscle strength
• exercise
• resistance training
• neurotransmitters
• quality of life