# Imaging Biomarkers of Exercise-Induced Brain Changes in Parkinson's Disease

> **NIH NIH R21** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $460,625

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder which poses an enormous
individual and public health burden. Current treatments help transiently with symptoms, but are not curative.
There is thus an urgent need for therapies to delay or even reverse the neurodegeneration of the dopaminergic
system, which is the main pathological process underlying PD. Randomized clinical trials have shown that
exercise improves the symptoms of PD. There is preclinical and preliminary human evidence that exercise
directly affects the dopaminergic system. However, it is largely unknown whether exercise also shows
neuroprotective effects in humans with PD. We aim to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the effects of
exercise on the dopaminergic system in vivo in humans with PD using neuroimaging.
We will use dynamic quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) to measure striatal dopamine
transporters (DAT). As DAT expression is regulated by ligand-availability, higher DAT levels are observed after
interventions that increase synaptic dopamine levels. Using DAT-PET we will investigate the exercise-related
changes in dopaminergic neuronal functioning. We will also use a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
sequence to measure neuronal loss from the substantia nigra. Using MRI we will investigate the exercise-
induced changes in the rate of dopaminergic neuronal loss.
We have an established collaboration with a PD-specific exercise program “Beat PD Today”. We will enroll 13
participants for this study from the large pool of Beat PD applicants about to begin exercise. DAT-PET, MRI,
and clinical assessments will be performed before and after six months of the sustained high-intensity
program. Using rigorous neuroimaging biomarkers, our goal is to demonstrate that high-intensity exercise has
measurable effects on the dopaminergic neurons.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10070423
- **Project number:** 1R21NS118764-01
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Evan D Morris
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $460,625
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-15 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10070423

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10070423, Imaging Biomarkers of Exercise-Induced Brain Changes in Parkinson's Disease (1R21NS118764-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10070423. Licensed CC0.

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