Acute cardiovascular exercise has shown to promote neuroplastic processes supporting the consolidation of newly acquired motor skills in healthy adults. First results suggest that this concept may be transferred to populations with motor and cognitive dysfunctions. In this context, Parkinson’s disease (PD) is highly relevant since patients demonstrate deficits in motor learning. Hence, in the present study we sought to explore the effect of a single post-practice exercise bout on motor memory consolidation in PD.

For this purpose, 17 patients with PD (Hoehn and Yahr: 1 – 2.5, age: 60.1 ± 7.9 y) practiced a whole-body skill followed by either (i) a moderate-intense bout of cycling, or (ii) seated rest for a total of 30 min. The motor skill required the participants to balance on a tiltable platform (stabilometer) for 30 s. During skill practice, participants performed 15 trials followed by a retention test 1 day and 7 days later. We calculated time in balance (platform within ± 5° from horizontal) for each trial and within- and between-group differences in memory consolidation (i.e. offline learning = skill change from last acquisition block to retention tests) were analyzed.

Groups revealed similar improvements during skill practice (F_4,60 = 0.316, p = 0.866), but showed differences in offline learning, which were only evident after 7 days (F_1,14 = 5.602, p = 0.033).

Our results suggest that a single post-practice exercise bout is effective in enhancing long-term motor memory consolidation in a population with motor learning impairments. This may point at unique promoting effects of exercise on dopamine neurotransmission involved in memory formation. Future studies should investigate the potential role of exercise-induced effects on the dopaminergic system.

急性心血管锻炼已显示促进神经可塑性过程，支持健康成人新获得的运动技能的巩固。第一个结果表明，这个概念可能会转移到有运动和认知功能障碍的人群中。在这种情况下，帕金森病 (PD) 是高度相关的，因为患者表现出运动学习缺陷。因此，在本研究中，我们试图探索单次练习后运动对 PD 运动记忆巩固的影响。

为此，17 名 PD 患者（Hoehn 和 Yahr：1 – 2.5，年龄：60.1 ± 7.9 岁）练习了全身技能，然后是 (i) 中等强度的自行车运动，或 (ii) 坐姿休息总共 30 分钟。运动技能要求参与者在可倾斜平台（稳定计）上保持平衡 30 秒。在技​​能练习期间，参与者进行了 15 次试验，然后在 1 天和 7 天后进行了保留测试。我们计算了每次试验的平衡时间（平台与水平面在 ± 5° 以内），并分析了记忆巩固的组内和组间差异（即离线学习 = 从最后一个习得块到保留测试的技能变化）。

各组在技能练习期间表现出类似的改进（F _4,60  = 0.316，p = 0.866），但在离线学习中表现出差异，仅在 7 天后才明显（F _1,14  = 5.602，p = 0.033）。

我们的结果表明，在运动学习障碍人群中，单次练习后锻炼可有效增强长期运动记忆的巩固。这可能表明运动对参与记忆形成的多巴胺神经传递具有独特的促进作用。未来的研究应该调查运动诱发的影响对多巴胺能系统的潜在作用。