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The aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effects of treadmill training on cognitive and motor performance in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Seventeen persons with mild to moderate PD were enrolled. Nine patients were allocated to the Intervention group and received twelve 45-minute sessions of treadmill training: one session a day, three days a week, for four consecutive weeks. Eight patients were allocated to the Control group; these patients did not undergo physical training but were required to have regular social interactions, following a specific lifestyle program. All the patients were evaluated at baseline and one month later. The primary outcome measures were the Frontal Assessment Battery-Italian version (FAB-it) and the 6-minute walking test (6MWT). At the one month evaluation significant differences were found between the groups in their performance on the FAB-it (p=0.005) and the 6MWT (p=0.018). Our findings support the hypothesis that treadmill training might effectively improve cognitive and motor features in patients with PD.

The aim of this pilot cross-sectional study was to extensively investigate the relationships between cognitive performance and motor dysfunction involving balance and gait ability in patients with Parkinson's disease. Twenty subjects with Parkinson's disease underwent a cognitive (outcomes: Frontal Assessment Battery-Italian version, Montreal overall Cognitive Assessment, Trail Making Test, Semantic Verbal Fluency Test, and Memory with Interference Test) and motor (outcomes: Berg Balance Scale, 10-Meter Walking Test, 6-Minute Walking Test, Timed Up and Go Test performed also under dual task condition, and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) assessment. Our correlation analyses showed that balance skills are significantly correlated with executive functions, cognitive impairment, and ability to switch attention between two tasks. Furthermore, functional mobility showed a significant correlation with cognitive impairment, verbal fluency, and ability to switch attention between two tasks. In addition, the functional mobility evaluated under the dual task condition showed a significant correlation with cognitive impairment and ability to switch attention between two tasks. These findings might help early identification of cognitive deficits or motor dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson's disease who may benefit from rehabilitative strategies. Future prospective larger-scale studies are needed to strengthen our results.