Browsing by Author "Brown, Lesley A."

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    Obstacle Avoidance amongst Parkinson Disease Patients Is Challenged in a Threatening Context
    (2013-05-15) Doan, Jon B.; de Bruin, Natalie; Pellis, Sergio M.; Suchowersky, Oksana; Whishaw, Ian Q.; Brown, Lesley A.
    We examined whether people with Parkinson disease (PD) have difficulty negotiating a gait obstruction in threatening (gait path and obstacle raised above floor) and nonthreatening (gait path and obstacle at floor level) contexts. Ten PD patients were tested in both Meds OFF and Meds ON states, along with 10 age-matched controls. Participants completed 18 gait trials, walking 4.7 m at a self-selected speed while attempting to cross an obstacle 0.15 m in height placed near the centre point of the walkway. Kinematic and kinetic parameters were measured, and obstacle contact errors were tallied. Results indicated that PD patients made more obstacle contacts than control participants in the threatening context. Successful crossings by PD patients in the threatening condition also exhibited kinematic differences, with Meds OFF PD patients making shorter crossing steps, with decreased initiation and crossing velocities. The findings from this study lend support to the theory that PD patients rely on directed attention to initiate and control movement, while providing indication that the motor improvements provided by current PD pharmacotherapy may be limited by contextual interference. These movement patterns may be placing PD patients at risk of obstacle contact and falling.
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    Walking with Music Is a Safe and Viable Tool for Gait Training inParkinson's Disease: The Effect of a 13-Week Feasibility Study onSingle and Dual Task Walking
    (2010-07-13) de Bruin, Natalie; Doan, Jon B.; Turnbull, George; Suchowersky, Oksana; Bonfield, Stephan; Hu, Bin; Brown, Lesley A.
    This study explored the viability and efficacy of integrating cadence-matched, salient music into a walking intervention for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Twenty-two people with PD were randomised to a control (CTRL, n=11) or experimental (MUSIC, n=11) group. MUSIC subjects walked with an individualised music playlist three times a week for the intervention period. Playlists were designed to meet subject's musical preferences. In addition, the tempo of the music closely matched (±10–15 bpm) the subject's preferred cadence. CTRL subjects continued with their regular activities during the intervention. The effects of training accompanied by “walking songs” were evaluated using objective measures of gait score. The MUSIC group improved gait velocity, stride time, cadence, and motor symptom severity following the intervention. This is the first study to demonstrate that music listening can be safely implemented amongst PD patients during home exercise.