Effects of mental imagery training on cognitive function and brain connectivity in people with Parkinson’s disease: A randomized pilot trial

Cognitive impairment is a debilitating problem in Parkinson’s disease (PD) with no effective treatment. We developed a personalized mental imagery (MI) intervention focusing on goal-directed activities and examined its effect on everyday cognitive functioning and brain functional connectivity in people with PD in a pilot randomized controlled trial ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT05495997 ).

Thirty nondemented people with PD were randomized to PD-MI and PD-Control groups. During the six-week training period, PD-MI received MI training and PD-Control received psychoeducation on cognitive health in PD. Participants underwent cognitive and functional MRI assessments at baseline, six weeks, and 18 weeks. The primary outcomes included changes in Neuro-QoL Cognitive Function (CF) survey scores and functional connectivity.

The PD-MI compared to the PD-Control group showed (1) significant difference in Neuro-QoL-CF scores (F(1,26) = 6.802, p = 0.015) at six weeks which was not sustained at 18 weeks, (2) stronger connectivity between frontoparietal regions (T = 4.1, p = 0.009) during MI tasks at six weeks, and (3) weaker connectivity between visuospatial and motor regions at 18 weeks.

Personalized MI training can be effective in facilitating cognitive preparedness for everyday tasks in people with PD. Its long-term effects and feasibility in cognitively impaired PD cohorts need further investigation.