Cognitive Training in Parkinson's Disease

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of idiopathic PD
• Age ≥ 40 years
• Expected to be on a stable dopaminergic medication regimen throughout the study period

Exclusion criteria

• Non-English speaking
• Pregnancy
• Breastfeeding
• Excessive alcohol consumption (> 7 drinks per week for women, > 14 drinks per week for men) or illicit substance use
• History of a neurological disorder such as a brain tumor, stroke, central nervous system infection, multiple sclerosis, movement disorder (other than PD), or seizures
• History of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder
• History of head injury with loss of consciousness longer than a few minutes
• Metallic surgical implants or traumatically implanted metallic foreign bodies
• Inability to lie flat for about an hour in the MRI scanner
• Discomfort being in small, enclosed spaces
• Dementia at screening (Montreal Cognitive Assessment score < 21/30)
• Cognitive problems in activities of daily living suggestive of more than mild cognitive impairment (PD Cognitive Functional Rating Scale > 4)
• Mild cognitive impairment according to the Movement Disorders Society (MDS) Level II comprehensive assessment criteria (> 1.5 standard deviations below the norm in two tests in a single cognitive domain or in one test in two separate cognitive domains, with the exception that the executive domain scores can be up to 2 standard deviations below the norm)
• Hoehn & Yahr stage > 3 (i.e., able to stand and walk, but not fully independent)
• Focal neurological findings on exam that suggest cerebral pathology other than that associated with parkinsonism
• Motor symptoms that could potentially introduce too much motion artifact in the imaging data (e.g., MDS-Unified PD Rating Scale resting tremor score > 2 in limbs, head/chin tremor, or more than mild dyskinesia by history or exam)