Parkinson’s Disease Impacts Mental Aspects of Movement, University of Alberta Researchers Find

"It suggests that, from a rehabilitation standpoint, we want to look at how we can train awareness of people's movements," U of A PhD candidate says

University of Alberta PhD candidate in the faculty of rehabilitation medicine, Kathryn Lambert, co-published a research article exploring how Parkinson’s disease impacts motor imagery. According to their research, Parkinson’s disease affects how people think about their movement.

While it is commonly understood as a disorder that affects movement with symptoms such as tremors, the mental aspects of the disease are lesser known, according to Lambert.

Her research interest in Parkinson’s disease was sparked by a family member’s experience with the disease. 

“I just remember thinking how scary it was for someone to go through that. It always stuck with me,” Lambert said.

“Movement is not just physical,” Lambert says

In her work as an occupational therapist, Lambert noticed discrepancies between how patients with Parkinson’s disease described their movements and how they actually performed them. This led her to consider motor imagery — the “imagination of movement” — and temporal accuracy —”the accuracy of timing” — in her latest research.

Lambert and her colleagues found that individuals were more likely to overestimate their movement on the more affected side of their body, thinking they were moving faster than they really were. She emphasized the danger of this misperception, as it can increase the risk of tripping and falling.

“It shows that there’s still a lot that we can learn about movement,” Lambert said. “Movement is not just physical. There’s a massive mental component to it.”

Lambert’s research also highlights how Parkinson’s disease impacts changes in mood and depressive symptoms. In her research and clinical work, Lambert has found that these non-physical symptoms have a massive impact on daily functioning.

“It is increasingly recognized that [Parkinson’s disease] is not just a movement disorder,” she said. “A lot of the time we think of it as just movement, and people don’t look at those other symptoms or characteristics.”

These research findings have many clinical implications for rehabilitation, according to Lambert. Rehabilitation treatment for Parkinson’s disease traditionally focuses on strengthening the body. Lambert emphasized that attention should also be placed on people’s perception of movement.

“It suggests that, from a rehabilitation standpoint, we want to look at how we can train awareness of people’s movements,” she said.