Light Therapy Intervention in Individuals With Parkinson's Disease

Summary

The study looks to investigate the effects that light therapy delivered to the frontal cortex could have on Parkinson's disease related symptoms ( both cognitive and motor). The therapy is a non invasive technique that deliverers low level wavelength light to the front part of the head for 12 minutes. for this study the therapy will be done 3 times a week for 6 weeks. To measure the potential effects on the therapy in Parkinson symptoms, we will do a set of cognitive and motor test before and after the intervention to measure any changes as well as control for any potential markers such as age, sex, disease level, medication and exercise.

Eligibility

Age range

50–80 years

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

No

Interventions

• Device
  Red Light (PDT)

  The intervention is a non invasive and safe practice. By delivering low level wavelength red light to the front part of the head, it can increase blood flow in the area treated and improve functioning of the associated regions, potentially improving symptoms.

• Device
  Placebo

  The intervention is a non invasive and safe practice. Participants will be wearing a helmet that delivered low level light therapy to the brain, and use it for the same amount of time as the treatment group. These participants will however, not receive the actual light and receive a placebo, so the helmet will be off. This is done to control of any potential positive effects of the therapy.

Location