Animal models of exercise and Parkinson’s disease (PD) have found that the physiologic use of exercise may interact with the neurodegenerative disease process, likely mediated by brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). No reviews so far have assessed the methodologic quality of available intervention studies or have bundled the effect sizes of individual studies on exercise-induced effects on BDNF blood levels in human PD. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and PubMed from inception to June 2017. Data aggregated from two randomized controlled trials and four pre-experimental studies with a total of 100 ambulatory patients with idiopathic PD (Hoehn/Yahr ≤3) found improvements in BDNF blood concentration levels in all 6 studies (two RCTs and 4 pre-experimental studies). Pooled BDNF level change scores from the 2 RCTs resulted in a significant homogeneous summary effect size (Standardized Mean Difference 2.06, 95% CI 1.36 to 2.76), and a significant heterogeneous SES for the motor part of the UPDRS-III examination (MD -5.53, 95% CI -10.42 to -0.64). Clinical improvements were noted in all studies using a variety of outcome measures. The evidence-base consists primarily of small studies with low to moderate methodological quality. This review provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of physical exercise treatments for persons with PD on BDNF blood levels. Further research is needed.

Objective. To investigate possible neurobehavioral changes secondary to a mindfulness based intervention (MBI) training for individuals living with Parkinson’s disease (PD).Background. In the context of complementary medicine, MBIs are increasingly being used for stress reduction and in patient populations coping with chronic illness. The use of alternative and complementary medicine may be higher in patients with chronic conditions such as PD. However, behavioral effects of mindfulness training in PD have not yet been reported in the literature and this points to an unmet need and warrants further examination.Methods. A total of 27 out of 30 PD patients completed a randomized controlled longitudinal trial. Questionnaires and the UPDRS I–IV were obtained at baseline and 8-week follow-up.Results. Significant changes after the MBI were found including a 5.5 point decrease on the UPDRS motor score, an increase of 0.79 points on Parkinson’s disease questionnaire (PDQ-39) pain item, and a 3.15 point increase in the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire observe facet.Conclusions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first quantitative analysis of neurobehavioral effects of MBI in PD.

To assess immediate and near-term effects of an instructional set on select gait parameters in people living with Parkinson disease (PD). Five individuals with early stage PD participated in a within subject design in Part One. Eleven individuals with early stage PD were randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 5) or a control group (n = 6) in Part Two. The treatment consisted of a 10-day training program of walking 1800 feet per day and with the instructions to “take long steps.” Testing occurred before treatment (baseline), immediately after treatment, one week after treatment, and one month after treatment. Measurements of step length, velocity, and cadence were taken without the use of the instructional set. There was a significant increase in step length and velocity and a significant decrease in cadence between baseline and all post-test measures for part one. For part 2, step length of the treatment group significantly increased between baseline and all 3 post-tests and there was a significant difference between the treatment group and control group at all post-tests for step length. Conclusions: The instructional set was effective in improving parameters of gait for at least 4 weeks. These data support the concept that people with Parkinson disease have a potential for motor learning.