Functional improvements associated with upper extremity motor stimulation in individuals with Parkinson’s disease

Background: While traditional neurotherapy promotes motor function in people living with Parkinson's disease (PD), the benefits may be limited by compounding physical, cognitive, and attentional barriers. Since the non‐traditional exercise of ice‐skating is proving to positively influence motor function and postural control, the purpose of this study was to explore whether the addition of an upper body sensory‐driven motor coordination task (stickhandling) would provide upper extremity neuromotor benefit among people with moderate PD. Methods: Seven non‐PD control (CTRL) and 22 PD (14 ON‐ICE, 8 OFF‐ICE) participants completed three trials of a reaching‐to‐eat (fine motor) task and a button‐push (gross motor) task, PRE‐and POST‐completion of two dynamic ‐ either on‐ or off‐ice ‐ stickhandling tasks. Reaching‐to‐eat and button‐push scores were compared between time periods (PRE, POST) and groups (CTRL, PD ON‐ICE, PD OFF‐ICE). Results: CTRL participants demonstrated higher scores when compared to the PD groups. Both PD groups demonstrated an improvement in reaching‐to‐eat and button‐push scores immediately following the intervention. Conclusions: These findings suggest that sport‐derived exercise programs may provide neuromotor benefit to people living with PD.