Parkinson and Exercise

ARTICLE: MY JOURNEY RESEARCHING BRAIN AND MOVEMENT

This was one of the latest reviews about my Program for Parkinson. Hand Eye coordination activities are extremely important for brain muscle control. I just got this review and made so happy!

Michael,

” My name is H.P. and I am caretaker for my wife J.P, who has had Parkinson’s for the past 15 years. Recently I was told by a very close friend named Alan Adler that you gave a Seminar, sponsored by Somerset Hospital, within the past few weeks. He had attended and thought you might be a help to my wife, as the disease is really beginning to take it’s toll. He gave me your literature which I had perused and I think must have unwittingly been discarded with the newspapers.

We did however salvage the blue plastic ball which you had given to my friend Alan. The ball had been sitting in a bowl in the kitchen. A few days ago Joan picked up the ball and began throwing it in the air and catching it. When I observed this I was sitting about 10 feet away when she dropped the ball I picked it up, threw it back and she easily caught it. I was impressed and we began throwing it back and forth. I am amazed that I can throw it to the right or left, up high or down low and she never misses carching it. It’s the best brain to muscle control I’ve been able to observe. As a result we do it now for maybe 10 min twice a day. I praise her and I can see she is very pleased with her accomplishment.

Would you be so kind as to send me copies of your literature which you had passed out at the seminar?”

Bibliography

PARKINSON AND STRENGTH TRAINING–

An exercise intervention to prevent falls in people with Parkinson’s disease: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2011; 82 (11): 1232 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2011-300919

The effects of a balance and strength training program on equilibrium in Parkinsonism: A preliminary study

The safety and feasibility of high-force eccentric resistance exercise in persons with Parkinson’s disease. Dibble LE, Hale T, Marcus RL, Gerber JP, Lastayo PC.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2006 Sep;87(9):1280-2.

High-intensity resistance training amplifies muscle hypertrophy and functional gains in persons with Parkinson’s disease. Dibble LE, Hale TF, Marcus RL, Droge J, Gerber JP, LaStayo PC.Mov Disord. 2006 Sep;21(9):1444-52.

Resistance training with creatine monohydrate improves upper-body strength in patients with Parkinson disease: a randomized trial.Hass CJ, Collins MA, Juncos JL. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2007 Mar-Apr;21(2):107-15.

Tutorial on maximum inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures in individuals with idiopathic Parkinson disease (IPD) and the preliminary results of an expiratory muscle strength training program. NeuroRehabilitation. 2006;21(1):71-9. Silverman EP, Sapienza CM, Saleem A, Carmichael C, Davenport PW, Hoffman-Ruddy B, Okun MS.

The effects of balance training and high-intensity resistance training on persons with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Hirsch MA, Toole T, Maitland CG, Rider RA. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2003 Aug;84(8):1109-17.

Resistance training and gait function in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Scandalis TA, Bosak A, Berliner JC, Helman LL, Wells MR. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2001 Jan;80(1):38-43

Not every movement is created equal. Crossword puzzles, Sodoku, computer games, and DVDs—there’s no end to the products touting their brain-boosting benefits. But in this multimillion-dollar business, one crucial tool has been overlooked: the enormous power of physical movement.

For the last 10 years I have been so intrigued about the connections of the brain and the body that I wanted to share a post explaining the partial scientific research for my book: Super Body, Super Brain.

Many of you have asked me “Is there any research to prove your claims?”How is the brain connected with physical exercise?” ,”I thought that the brain was for intelligence not for movement” What about muscle memory? I thought muscles moved by themselves because muscle memory not because of the brain. I get asked these questions over and over again so that is why I wanted to write about the scientific research for Super Body, Super Brain. Everything starts with learning and accepting mentors. I found two of the top experts connecting Neuroscience and movement. My both mentors were John H. Martin neurobiologist and expert in the motor system and Felice Ghilardi MD, neurologist. Both of them made me fall in love with the brain at first sight. Countless hours after , hundreds of papers and brain scans later I was able to connect what I was observing with my private clients and their phenomenal results.

“Perhaps The more you need to think during a perplex movement the more you recruit connections in the cognitive systems in the brain” John H Martin, Neurobiologist and author of Neuroanatomy, Text and Atlas

I wanted to base my program in a solid scientific research so I just wanted to share the most significant studies that i used when i was developing my program:

Enriched Environments. Exercise helps our brain work better but also create more synaptic connections. When our brains and bodies are in these enriched environments we are happier and in better shape than if we were in sedentary locations. Here is one of the most important studies showing the implications of exercise for brain health.

1.- Greenough, W. T., and A. M. Sirevaag. “Plasticity of GFAP-immunoreactive astrocyte size and number in visual cortex of rats reared in complex environments.” BrainResearch 540, no. 1–2 (Feb. 1, 1991): 273–278.

6 months ago i wanted to know who is one of the top experts that is connecting physical exercise and cognitive function. So I emailed Dr Arthur Krammer a Professor, Department of Psychology Director, Beckman Institute. Dr Krammer is one of the top scientists studying the connection of exercise and cognitive function. I wanted to ask him what were the implications of physical activity in one of the most important areas of the Brain: the hippocampus. Here is his original study:

2.-Krammer, Arthur F., et al. “Aerobic fitness is associated with hippocampal volume in elderly humans.” Hippocampus 19, no. 10 (Oct. 2009): 1030–1039.

Cardiovascular activity is connected with intelligence: exercise your beautiful heart. Can our heart makes us smarter? Charles Hillman Ph.D is a top scientist studying the connection of the heart on cognitive function so I emailed him asking him about his research and his findings. My program uses actively the heart so I was extremely interested. He was so extremely nice when he answered me back with his incredible findings. Here is this groundbreaking study:

3.-Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition. Hillman CH, Erickson KI, Kramer AF.

I still remember when neurobiologist Dr John Martin, expert in the motor system emailed me on a Saturday at 8 am revealing the incredible findings on the following study. Both of us have extensively discussed that the more we use our brain the better brain connections and that same principle applies to physical exercise: The study reflects that animals whose brains were challenged during exercise not only increased brain activity but also got smarter. This is exactly what this revolutionary study says. New York Times mentioned it and did a great article about the study implications. This is the study:

4.-Jen, C. J., and H.-I. Chen. “Differential effects of treadmill running and wheel running on spatial or aversive learning and memory: Roles of amygdalar brain-derived neurotrophic factor and synaptotagmin.” Journal of Physiology 587 (July 1, 2009): 3221–3231.

With Neurobiologist John Martin PhD and my dad, another phenomenal scientist researching the immune system

It was May 6th 2005 when I was trying to make sense of my program. I found the incredible scientific research about the cerebellum: 50% of your neurons packed in an area responsible for balance and coordination! I found these great two retired scientists in Palo Alto who have been studying the cerebellum and they found out that the cerebellum also has powers to makes us smarter, think better, in other words the cerebellum is good for cognitive powers!! Check out this wonderful study:

Cerebellum picture

Taking a picture next to a huge cerebellum: Museum of Natural History NYC

Cerebellum packs 50% of all the brain’s neurons: The cerebellum is responsible for balance, coordination, posture, intention and cognitive

5.-Leiner, Henrietta C., and Alan L. Leiner. “The treasure at the bottom of the brain.”

We can create new neurons no matter our age! Yes! Neurogenesis is a process where we can create fresh new neurons. This process is very different from Neuroplasticity. Neurogenesis we know it happens in two sections of the brain: the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the Olfactory bulb. However when I was doing my research I found this great scientist in Turin, Italy where his team has just researched on how we can create new neurons in the cerebellum! Yei!! If this gets translated into humans (so far only rabbits were used in the experiment) it would have astounding benefits for aging, neurodegenerative diseases or teenagers and children brain development. I always had the feeling that if we challenge the cerebellum via complex movements we can create more powerful connections and why not, new neurons! Here is his wonderful research mentioned in my book:

6.-Ponti, G., B. Peretto, and L. Bonfanti. “Genesis of neuronal and glial progenitors in the cerebellar cortex of peripuberal and adult rabbits.” PLoS ONE yes that is the publication,

The key is motor plasticity. One of the most innovative trends that we know in fitness is that exercise complexity increases attention, concentration and physical performance so i was so incredibly surprised when i found this study and its implications for brain activity when we learn more complex tasks: Like in Super Body, Super Brain!

7.-Selective synaptic plasticity within the cerebellar cortex following complex motor skill learning

Few years ago I emailed Dr Small A. Scott MD to ask him about about his research and how could we create new neurons by exercising aerobically . His study focuses exactly in that area of research. New York Times titled an article “Lobes of Steel”. If we exercise our heart, at least 20% of the blood supply reaches the brain, so when monitor a specific section of the brain voila: new fresh neurons in this specific section of the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus showed up!…Fantastic news since this can have tremendous implications for Dementia and Alzheimer. This is his original study:

8.-Small A, Scott, Gage, Fred et al. “An in vivo correlate of exercise-induced neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus.” TK. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of United States of America, March 27, 2007 vol. 104 no. 13 5638-5643

Once that I was developing my Super Body, Super Brain program I really found myself trying to research on the mechanisms that connect the central nervous system and the spinal cord with the rest of the body so when I found this study i was so excited since it says that when you train your body with specific movements it has spectacular physiological implications. These specific movements produces changes in the motor cortex and the spinal cord- The key is motor plasticity!

9.-Motor training induces experience-specific patterns of plasticity across motor cortex and spinal cord

DeAnna L. Adkins,1,2 Jeffery Boychuk,1,2 Michael S. Remple,3,4 and Jeffrey A. Kleim1,2^{1Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall Veterans Affairs Hospital, Gainesville; 2Department of Neuroscience,}

I hope you have enjoyed reading my journey and how all of us we can reach our maximum potential if we follow specific exercises: Plato in the voice of Socrates was totally right:

He said: “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it”