The benefits of exercise for Parkinson's disease (PD) are well known; however, we do not know the optimal dose for efficacy. This presentation will discuss the recently funded NIH clinical trial, "Study in Parkinson Disease of Exercise Phase 3 Clinical Trial: SPARX3." SPARX3 will investigate the dose response of endurance exercise for people with PD. The presenter will discuss the rationale for the two doses of exercise selected. Topics will include studies of exercise in animal models of PD, human studies of endurance exercise in PD, the multi-site study 

Neurodegenerative Disease II: Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

Wednesday, June 2
4:15 - 6:15 PM MDT

Zurine De Miguel
Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Constanza J. Cortes
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Henriette van Praag
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL

Jeffrey Burns
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS

Regenerative Rehabilitation: Physical Medicine Meets Stem Cell Therapeutics

Thursday, June 3
2:15 - 3:05 PM MDT

Fabrisia Ambrosio
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

The number of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative diseases continues to increase rapidly as our population ages. Increasing evidence suggests that exercise influences an individual’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease and may impact neurodegeneration. This session will explore mechanisms relating exercise with neuroplasticity, neuroinflammation and brain function, as well as explore how exercise may be a strategy to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s in healthy individuals and slow the disease in those affected. 

Regenerative medicine technologies have been shown to benefit from the application of targeted and specific mechanical stimuli, a mainstay of rehabilitation. Accordingly, physical therapeutics may be enhanced through cellular and other regenerative therapies. The integration of these two disciplines—known as Regenerative Rehabilitation—has the potential to improve the efficacy of interventions designed to optimize functional recovery after injury and in the setting of disease.