Study Rationale: Freezing of gait affects four out of five people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), yet this debilitating symptom is not fully treated by any PD medication available. Research has shown that episodes of freezing happen when too much ‘cross-talk’ takes place in the brain. Atomoxetine, a medication commonly used to treat ADHD in children, has been shown to reduce this neural cross-talk, and thus may help to improve freezing of gait in PD.
Hypothesis: We hypothesize that atomoxetine can improve the severity of freezing of gat by reducing cross-talk in brain network communication.
Study Design: Participants with freezing of gait will be randomly assigned to receive a dose of atomoxetine or a placebo. We will then clinically assess their walking behavior and challenge them with augmented reality designed to amplify freezing of gait by adding stress. Finally, we will scan participants’ brains with MRI in both the OFF and ON dopamine state, as well as the atomoxetine and placebo state, thus four times in total.
Impact on Diagnosis/Treatment of Parkinson’s disease: If successful, this work could enhance the quality of life of those living with freezing of gate by reducing the stress and falls related to this condition. It could also reduce the costs of the associated hospital visits or admissions due to injurious freezing-related falls.
Next Steps for Development: Repurposing approved medications offers the shortest timeline for translating therapies into the clinic. Thus, positive results from the proposed work with atomoxetine could lead to a larger scale trial and industry investment to accumulate the evidence needed to approve atomoxetine to treat freezing of gait in PD.