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).