Increasing Mu Wave Desynchronization after Movement Therapy on people with Parkinson's Disease

Jade Thalia Rodrigues Vilhalva ¹ Breno Cesar de Oliveira Imbiriba ^2* Lane Viana Krejcova ³ Carlomagno Pacheco Bahia ^1*

• ¹ Programa de Pósgraduação em Neurociências, ICS, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
• ² Faculdade de Meteorologia, IG, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
• ³ Faculdade de Dança, ICA, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil

This pilot study attempts to identify a relation between dance and Mirror Neuron activity in people with Parkinson's Disease by investigating Mu rhythm desynchronization in Electroencephalographic (EEG) data before and after regular participation in a program of dance classes. During the EEG recordings, the participants observed a sequence of videos showing either choreographic (complex) or daily (simple) movements, each preceded by a baseline image (dark screen) and a control video (moving blocks). The results showed a statistically significant increase of Mu rhythm desynchronization at the alpha 1 band at the Central channels, after six months of dance classes. Control comparisons with Occipital channels showed no such increase. The mu rhythm suppression has been demonstrated to reflect the activity of the human mirror neuron system, responds to variations in motor expertise and seem to be impaired in Parkinson's disease. The Mu wave desynchronization increases shown here, after six months of dance classes, is an objective measurement of the benefits of such practice for people with PD.