ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
This article is part of the Research TopicWomen in motor neuroscience 2025View all 7 articles
CEREBRAL ACTIVATION FOLLOWING DYNAMIC CYCLING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT PARKINSON'S DISEASE: AN FNIRS INVESTIGATION
Provisionally accepted
- 1Catawba College, Salisbury, United States
- 2Kent State University, Kent, United States
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ABSTRACT High-cadence dynamic cycling has been associated with significant benefits on motor function in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite clear improvements in motor symptoms in this population, the neurophysiological mechanisms are unknown. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a neuroimaging tool that measures cortical activation by estimating hemoglobin content at the surface level of the brain. Eighteen participants (N=11 with PDarkinson's disease) completed the present study in which investigated changes in prefrontal cortical activity were investigated following high-and low-cadence dynamic cycling on the SMART bike, a motorized therapeutic stationary bicycle. fNIRS measures were performed acquired during finger This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article tapping and cognitive assessment before and after dynamic cycling. Three-way mixed factorial ANOVA with repeated measures on time were conducted to determine differences in oxyhemoglobin concentrations within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) following dynamic cycling. No significant differences were found in oxyhemoglobin responses. ; Hhowever, this is the first study in which researchers compared changes in fNIRS responses in people with PD (PwPD) and healthy age-matched controls following dynamic cycling on the SMART bike. More work is warranted in larger sample sizes in order to continue the effort towards optimal exercise prescription for individuals with PD. however, mean value comparisons displayed interesting responses that may suggest a trend toward increased efficiency in oxygen utilization in PwPD immediately following dynamic cycling. This is the first study to investigate changes in fNIRS responses in Parkinson's disease and healthy age-matched controls. While more work is warranted, these findings present fundamental justification for the continuing effort to optimize exercise prescription for individuals with Parkinson's disease.
Keywords: Dynamic cycling, functionalnear-infrared spectroscopy, motor control, movement disorder, Neurorehabilitation
Received: 26 Nov 2025; Accepted: 11 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Smith, Shigo, Huyck and Ridgel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Brittany E. Smith
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