PHYSIOLOGICAL-MECHANISMS AND MOVEMENT ANALYSIS IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE

We present new ideas about motor control in the human central nervous system and about pathophysiological mechanisms of Parkinson's disease, and we describe the Posturo-Locomotion-Manual (PLM) method, which is a new technique utilizing optoelectronic camera recording for objectiv e, fully quantitative, and standardized assessment of human motor perf ormance. In the PLM test, recordings of body movements are made during a simple motor task, where the subject repeatedly moves a small objec t from its starting position on the floor to a shelf located at chin h eight a few steps forward. The duration of the postural (raising up),l ocomotor and the goal-directed manual phase of the forward directed bo dy movement is automatically calculated by a small computer as well as the degree of coordination (simultaneity) of these phases. The techni que has high resolution and has been used for clinical assessment of m otor performance, drug testing, and so on, in neurological and geriatr ic practice.