Effect of Mental Imagery Training on Brain Plasticity and Motor Function in Individuals With Parkinson's Disease

This project will examine the effect of functional MRI-based neurofeedback on brain plasticity and motor performance in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Subjects with a diagnosis of idiopathic PD defined according to the UK Brain Bank diagnostic criteria and on a stable dopaminergic medication regimen will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age < 40 years
• Non-English speaking
• Pregnancy
• Breastfeeding
• Excessive alcohol consumption (> 7 drinks per week for women, > 14 drinks per week for men) or substance use
• History of a neurological disorder such as a brain tumor, stroke, central nervous system infection, multiple sclerosis, movement disorder (other than PD), or seizures
• History of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, or obsessive compulsive disorder
• History of head injury with loss of consciousness
• Metallic surgical implants or traumatically implanted metallic foreign bodies
• Inability to lie flat for about an hour
• Discomfort being in small, enclosed spaces
• Dementia (Montreal Cognitive Assessment score < 21)
• Depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II score > 19)
• Hoehn & Yahr stage > 3 (i.e., able to stand and walk, but not fully independent)
• Focal neurological findings on exam that suggest cerebral pathology other than that associated with parkinsonism
• Motor symptoms that could potentially introduce too much motion artifact in the imaging data (e.g., MDS-UPDRS resting tremor score > 1 in limbs, head/chin tremor, or dyskinesia by history or exam).