---
title: Stepping to music improves walking
nct_id: NCT07697664
phase: NA
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Emory University
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT07697664"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07697664"
last_fetched: "2026-07-13T14:00:35.758Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Stepping to music improves walking

**Goal (in five words):** Stepping to music improves walking

**Official Title:** Moving Yourself in Space and Time Identifying Spatial and Temporal Components of Complex Rhythmic Movement Training for People With Parkinson's Disease and Cognitive Impairment

**Trial ID:** [NCT07697664](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07697664)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** NA
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Emory University
- **Target Enrollment:** 210 participants
- **Start Date:** 2022-03-25
- **Completion Date:** 2028-12
- **Conditions:** Parkinson's Disease (PD), Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Related Disorders, Older Adults (60 - 85 Years Old)
- **Interventions:** Complex Rhythmic Movement Sequences (CRMS) Sessions
- **Intervention Types:** OTHER

## Summary For Families

Goal: Find out whether a new stepping therapy set to music helps people with Parkinson's move and think better, and how people with Parkinson's best learn new steps and rhythms compared with people who have mild cognitive impairment and people without these conditions. Approach: Participants practice complex rhythmic movement sequences, called CRMS or Spatiotemporal Activity Modification (STEAM), where specially designed musical patterns guide the timing and spacing of steps; the rhythm can be given as sounds or as touch, training may include an intensive 3-week program of 1.5-hour classes several times per week, and researchers measure how quickly and accurately people learn and retain the step patterns. Eligibility: Adults 18 to 79 are invited, with younger healthy adults (18 to 35) and older adults (50 to 79) who are either healthy, have mild cognitive impairment, or have Parkinson's and can consent; people with major medical, psychiatric, or mobility problems, recent stroke, certain medications, or who are already highly active are excluded.

## What This Actually Involves

**Placebo** _(From the protocol)_: There is no placebo group. Everyone receives an active treatment; the study compares one treatment against another.

**Visits** _(From the protocol)_: Participants will attend daily (3-5 times/week) lessons that last 1.5 hours for about a month (3-5 weeks).
  > "Participants will attend daily (3-5 times/week) lessons that will last 1.5h for a month (e.g., 3-5 weeks) and will receive contact and monitoring from study staff."

**Procedures** _(Ask the coordinator)_: Ask the coordinator what tests and procedures are involved, for example blood draws, scans, or questionnaires, and whether any are uncomfortable or invasive.

**Washout** _(Ask the coordinator)_: Ask the coordinator whether you would need to stop or pause any of your current medications before or during the study (a washout period), and for how long.

**Travel & reimbursement** _(Ask the coordinator)_: Ask the coordinator whether travel, parking, or your time is reimbursed or compensated, and what is covered.

_Fields marked “From the protocol” come from the trial's registry record or quoted protocol text. Fields marked “Ask the coordinator” are not reliably available and should be confirmed directly._

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Maximum age:** 79 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria for Young adults and adults with normal cognition (NC):

* 18 to 35 Years old
* Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score of 26 to 30

Inclusion Criteria for Older Adults:

* 50 to 79 with or without MCI
* 50 to 79 years old with Parkinson's disease (PD), who do NOT have impaired decision-making capacity
* Participants who achieve less than 150 minutes moderate or 75 minutes vigorous aerobic activity per week (as per the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)),

Exclusion Criteria for all groups:

* Acute medical illness requiring hospitalization;
* Uncontrolled congestive heart failure;
* History of stroke in the past three years;
* Inability to perform study procedures;
* Medical or physical conditions that would preclude participation (e.g., severe arthritis or mobility problems, uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes, renal failure, history of angina with activity);
* On medications that could adversely affect cognition, e.g., antipsychotics, opioids, stimulants, chemotherapy, and neurologic prescriptions to treat Multiple Sclerosis. When applicable, enrollment will be delayed until dosages are stable on e.g., Aricept, Namenda, anticholinesterase inhibitors, for at least 3 months
* Psychotic disorders
* Confounding neurologic conditions \[e.g., active central nervous system (CNS) opportunistic infections, seizure disorders, head injury with loss of consciousness \>30 minutes, intracranial neoplasms, stroke with neurological or neuropsychiatric sequelae\]
* Substance Use Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder within six months of evaluation.
* Inability to provide informed consent
```

## Locations (1)

- Emory University, Executive Park, Wesley Woods, Atlanta, Georgia, United States _(33.7490, -84.3880)_
  - Madeleine E. Hackney, PhD, (CONTACT), mehackn@emory.edu

## Central Contacts

- Madeleine E. Hackney, PhD, (CONTACT), 314-412-4852, mehackn@emory.edu

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT07697664*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT07697664*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07697664*