Dual-task training to improve cognitive impairment and walking function in Parkinson's disease patients: A brief review

Sports Med Health Sci. 2021 Oct 23;3(4):202-206. doi: 10.1016/j.smhs.2021.10.003. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Abstract

In daily functional activities, the body needs the ability to perform two or more tasks at the same time (such as talking while walking). However, the gait disorder of patients with Parkinson's disease is aggravated when performing dual tasks, which seriously affects their quality of life. Therefore, the medical management plan should offer effective exercise training programming to improve Parkinson's disease patients' ability to perform dual tasks. Most traditional exercise intervention methods only focus on the perspective of exercise or cognition, ignoring their interaction, and fail to adequately resolve the dual task obstacles associated with Parkinson's disease. Some scholars put forward the concept of dual-task training and have applied dual-task training to patients with neurological disorders and have achieved good therapeutic effects. Therefore, this article summarizes the research literature concerning dual-task training to improve cognitive impairment and walking function of Parkinson's disease patients, to evaluate and discuss possible mechanisms of action, and provide a basis for adjuvant treatment and rehabilitation of Parkinson's disease patients.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; Dual-task training; Parkinson's disease; Walking function.

Publication types

  • Review