Abstract

This proposal is in response to RFA-NS-02-010 Parkinson's Disease Neuroprotective Clinical Trials: Clinical Center. Parkinson's disease is a progressive and debilitating neurodegenerative disorder affecting one-percent of the population overthe age of 55 years. The primary pathological features of PD are the loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons and subsequent depletion of striatal dopamine. The cause of PD is currently unknown but both environmental and genetic factors may contribute tott""""""""eetiology of the disease. Since PD is a progressive disease, pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological modalities may be developed to provide neuroprotection through either protecting/rescuing surviving neuronsand slowing disease progression. The primary goal of this proposal is to identify and recruit patients and conduct clinical trials of neuroprotection in early stage PD. An alternative approach to slowing disease progression is by promoting neuroplasticity in surviving nigrostriatal neurons. One possible non-pharmacological intervention is the process of activity-dependent neuroplasticity that may be achieved through long-term exercise (such as treadmill training). The secondary goal of this proposal is to determine if long-term treadmill training attenuatesdisease progression in PDthroughactivity dependent neuroplasticity.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Cooperative Clinical Research--Cooperative Agreements (U10)
Project #
5U10NS044462-10
Application #
8204823
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZNS1-SRB-L (01))
Program Officer
Moy, Claudia S
Project Start
2002-09-15
Project End
2012-11-30
Budget Start
2011-12-01
Budget End
2012-11-30
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$111,981
Indirect Cost
$42,857

  Institution

Name
University of Southern California
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
072933393
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90089