Exercise and Brain Energetics in Parkinson’s Disease

Principal Investigator- Vesna Sossi

Why are we doing this study?

It is well known that exercise helps slow down disease progression in people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), but how exactly does it work? What changes occur in the brain in response to sustained levels of exercise? Our research study aims to answer these questions using brain scanning—in particular, using positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study brain energetics, or how the brain produces and uses energy.

This study is being conducted by Dr. Vesna Sossi and is aimed at investigating brains of people with Parkinson’s at varying levels of exercise and comparing them against each other over a six-month period.

Who can participate?

• Individuals with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease

• Ages 40-80

• Currently participating in less than 120 minutes of high-intensity exercise per week.

• Able to maintain and report activity levels for 24 weeks

• Able to tolerate laying down on their back for about 90 minutes for PET/MRI scanning

What does this study involve?

Eligible participants are invited to complete baseline study assessments at UBC and VGH to complete questionnaires, a VO2 max bike test of aerobic fitness, and a PET/MRI scan to look at brain behavior. Following this, participants will complete 6-months of group indoor cycling classes and then return to UBC and VGH for follow-up assessments. The total participation time in this study is approximately 7 months. Participation in this study is voluntary.

How do I sign up for this study?

If you are interested in this study, please call us at 604-822-7705 or email us at stoessl.research@ubc.ca

Results and publications

Novel insights into relationships between metabolic covariance patterns of FDG-PET data and clinical status in Parkinson's disease using partial least squares correlation analysis

  • Bevington CW, Dhaliwal S, McKenzie J, Stoessl AJ, Sossi V. Novel insights into relationships between metabolic covariance patterns of FDG-PET data and clinical status in Parkinson’s disease using partial least squares correlation analysis. Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. 2025;0(0). doi:10.1177/1877718X251394778

Summary

  • Parkinson’s disease affects not only movement but also how different parts of the brain work together. Brain scans using FDG-PET can measure how active different brain regions are by tracking how they use glucose, the brain’s main fuel. Rather than looking at single brain areas in isolation, this study focused on patterns of activity across networks of regions and how these patterns relate to a person’s symptoms.

    FDG-PET scans from people with Parkinson’s disease were analyzed using a statistical approach called partial least squares correlation analysis. This method is designed to identify coordinated patterns in brain metabolism and link them directly to clinical features, such as motor symptoms or overall disease severity. By examining these relationships simultaneously, the approach provides a more integrated view of how brain changes and symptoms are connected.

    The study found that specific patterns of shared metabolic activity across the brain were strongly associated with clinical status in Parkinson’s disease. These patterns captured meaningful differences between individuals that were not easily seen when focusing on single brain regions alone. The results suggest that Parkinson’s disease involves widespread, network-level changes in brain function.

    Overall, this work highlights the value of advanced data-analysis methods for understanding complex brain disorders. Identifying metabolic brain networks linked to symptoms could improve how Parkinson’s disease is studied and may eventually help track disease progression or response to treatment.

Altered brain energetics in Parkinson’s Disease: a multimodal neuroimaging study (Abstract)

Summary

  • This abstract explored how brain energy use differs between people with Parkinson’s disease and healthy individuals using a multimodal neuroimaging approach. By combining PET and MRI techniques, the study measured both glucose consumption and oxygen metabolism, providing insight into how efficiently the brain generates energy.

    The findings showed distinct, region-specific changes in brain energetics in Parkinson’s disease. In the more affected side of the posterior putamen, glucose use was increased without a corresponding rise in oxygen consumption, suggesting greater reliance on less efficient energy pathways. In contrast, regions such as the cerebellum and brainstem showed relatively higher oxygen metabolism, indicating different energetic demands across brain regions.

    Together, these results highlight that Parkinson’s disease is associated with altered brain energy metabolism rather than uniform changes across the brain. The observed imbalance between glucose and oxygen use supports the idea that disrupted energy production, potentially linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, plays an important role in the biological mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s disease.