Pedalling a new remedy for Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s patients may be able to reduce their symptoms by emulating top Tour de France cyclists, research suggests.

Scientists found that cycling led to greater connectivity between brain regions linked to the disease.

But vigorous “forced” pedalling was key to the changes, which were associated with improvements in co-ordination and balance.

Neuroscientist Dr Jay Alberts conducted the study after riding a tandem bicycle across Iowa with a patient to raise awareness of the disease. He noticed that his companion’s condition improved after the ride.

“The finding was serendipitous,” said Dr Alberts, from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. “I was pedalling faster than her, which forced her to pedal faster.

“She had improvements in her upper extremity function, so we started to look at the possible mechanism behind this improved function.”

Dr Alberts led a team of scientists who carried out brains scans on 26 Parkinson’s patients using a technique called functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI).

The patients had to undergo sessions on exercise cycles three times a week for two months.

The scans showed that faster cycling boosted nerve connections between the primary motor cortex and thalamus. Signalling between these two regions is vital to co-ordinated movement, and impaired in Parkinson’s patients.

The findings were presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.