Effects of self-selected music on psychophysiological responses to goal-directed exercise in Parkinson's disease.

Exercise is a cornerstone adjunct therapy for people with Parkinson's Disease (PwP) but tolerance is often impaired by non-motor processes including decreased motivation, psychological arousal, and physical effort allocation. Self-selected music (SSM) improves motivation and arousal state thereby enhancing physical effort and capacity during goal-directed exercise in healthy adults. Whether these effects translate to PwP is unclear. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of SSM on psychophysiological responses and goal-directed exercise performance during a 6-minute walk test (6MWT) in PwP. In a counterbalanced crossover manner, PwP (n = 12) completed two 6MWT under different listening conditions: 1) White noise (WN) and 2) SSM. Participants walked as far as possible in six minutes while listening to the corresponding condition while heart rate, metabolic equivalents (METs), steps, and distance were monitored. After the completion of each 6MWT, motivation, psychological arousal, enjoyment, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were assessed. Findings show SSM music resulted in significantly higher heart rate (p = 0.004; d = 1.1), METs (p = 0.013; d = 0.9), total steps (p = 0.029; d = 0.8), and distance (p = 0.044; d = 0.6) compared to WN. Levels of psychological arousal (+62.6%; p = 0.001; d = 1.6), motivation (+94.1%; p < 0.001; d = 1.4), and enjoyment (p < 0.001; d = 2.0) were higher with SSM compared to WN. No differences in RPE were seen with SSM vs. WN (p = 0.309; d = 0.3). These preliminary data suggest SSM may aid in improving goal-based exercise performance and psychophysiological determinants of exercise capacity in PwP. Although larger sample sizes and more robust testing are warranted, SSM may be an effective ergogenic tool for PwP.