Bicycling Fast May Improve Parkinson’s Symptoms
Bicycling at speeds of 77–80 rpm seems to benefit patients with Parkinson’s disease. After neuroscientist Jay Alberts and one of his patients rode a tandem bicycle across Iowa to raise awareness of the illness, he noticed that her symptoms had improved. He had ridden in front, setting a pace that forced her to pedal faster. Their experience inspired the study, in which 26 patients with Parkinson’s were assigned to either ride a stationary bike at their own pace, or ride at a forced rate, where a trainer in the front seat of a tandem bicycle controlled the pedaling rate, which was at least 30% faster than the voluntary rates. After 8 weeks of thrice-weekly pedaling, the forced-rate group saw a 35% improvement in symptoms, compared to no improvement in the voluntary-rate group.
Study authors used functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) to measure levels of blood oxygen in the brain before, immediately after, and 4 weeks after the 8 weeks of exercise therapy. In the fast pedaling group, task-related connectivity between the primary motor cortex and the posterior part of the thalamus improved. Some cortical regions in the brain showed less activity, suggesting that Parkinsons’ patients who usually must use these areas to compensate for their motor deficits required less of this alternative brain activity after the exercise therapy. The research was presented at the Radiological Society of America’s annual meeting in 2012.
