Short Digital Training Program Improves Motor Function in Parkinson’s Disease

Drug treatment is standard care, yet additional approaches are needed to target motor control. Digital training that can be layered onto medication may offer a scalable option. To help address this challenge, researchers have now tested a three-week digital training program designed to augment standard care and strengthen motor control.

The program, called DopApp, is a digital training intervention developed by Remepy Health Ltd. The research was carried out at Reichman University through the Baruch Ivcher Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Technology, in collaboration with the university’s Ruth and Meir Rosenthal Brain Imaging Center. The investigation examined whether targeted digital exercises could produce measurable motor gains and corresponding changes in brain networks that govern movement.

DopApp delivers daily exercises that combine spatial navigation tasks, cognitive training, and motor rehabilitation. A core element requires users to navigate three-dimensional mazes. As training progresses, visual input is reduced so that users rely increasingly on memory and auditory cues, reinforcing learning demands on sensorimotor circuits.

The study enrolled 32 individuals with Parkinson's disease who were receiving standard pharmacological therapy. Participants were randomly assigned to a training group or a control group. The intervention lasted three weeks, during which the training group completed the digital program each day.

Participants who used DopApp achieved clinically meaningful motor improvements. On the standard clinical scale used to rate Parkinson’s symptom severity, the training group improved by approximately 6.4 points compared with the control group. Fine motor control of the hands also improved. Brain imaging showed strengthened connectivity between regions responsible for motor control and localized changes in neural circuits involved in movement. Greater success on the navigation tasks was associated with larger motor gains.

The findings were published in npj Parkinson's Disease on June 26, 2026. The researchers report that this early-stage work supports the potential of targeted digital tools as part of treatment and rehabilitation strategies for Parkinson’s disease. Additional study is needed to define durability and optimal implementation.

“These findings suggest that a short, targeted digital training program may help the brain 'relearn' and strengthen neural networks that have been impaired by the disease,” said the researchers.

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