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Complex Motor Performance and Parkinson's Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Roselyne Normand ,
Robert Kerr  and
J. David Grimes
Roselyne Normand
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
Robert Kerr
Affiliation:
Brock University
J. David Grimes
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
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Abstract

The performance of seven Parkinson patients on a discrete pursuit tracking task was studied under alleviated (medicated) and unalleviated (non-medicated) conditions, and compared with the performance of seven non-Parkinson subjects matched for age and gender. All subjects completed 2,000 responses on the tracking task, which provided variations in directional probability and the distance to be moved. Overall, results suggested that once given sufficient practice to learn a novel task, and when under drug control, Parkinson patients were not significantly different from their age-matched controls. Two exceptions where Parkinson patients evidenced slower responses were noted: (a) their ability to make decisions when movement direction was less predictable: and (b) when they had to readjust their motor responses after an unexpected movement error.

Résumé

Une étude a été menée sur la performance de sept patients atteints de la maladie de Parkinson qui avaient à effectuer une tache de repérage de mouvements discontinue et qui, dans un premier temps, étaient sous medication (symptômes atténués) et, dans un deuxième temps, sans médication (symptômes non atténués). Les résultats obtenus ont été comparés avec ceux provenant de sept personnes d'âge et de sexe similaires et non atteintes de la maladie de Parkinson. Toutes les personnes ont donné 2 000 réponses au cours de la tâche, ce qui a permis d'obtenir des variations sur la probabilité directionnelle et la distance de déplacement. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats indiquent que lorsque les malades parkinsonniens sous médication obtenaient suffisamment de temps pour pratiquer et apprendre une nouvelle tâche, ils se comportaient de la même façon que les personnes témoins d'âge semblable. Cependant, on a noté deux situations ou les réponses des personnes atteintes de la maladie de Parkinson étaient visiblement plus lentes: (a) dans leur habileté à prendre des décisions lorsque la direction du mouvement était moins prévisible, et, (b) lorsqu'ils devaient rajuster leurs réponses motrices après un faux mouvement subit.

Keywords

AgingParkinson's DiseaseLearningPursuit TrackingVieillissementmaladie de Parkinsonapprentissagerepérage de mouvement
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , Spring/printemps 1993 , pp. 89 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1993

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