REACTION-TIME DEFICITS AND PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Controversy surrounds the existence and nature of reaction time defici ts in Parkinson's disease. Three areas of research are reviewed: the u se of precues to speed movement (motor preprogramming), the effects of medication on reaction time, and simple reaction times. No evidence i s found for a motor preprogramming deficit, and the presence of a park insonian reaction time deficit after medication withdrawal is found to be dependent upon experimental design and the withdrawal method used. Parkinson's disease is found to cause a consistent deficit in simple reaction time. A quantitative analysis of past studies reveals that a parkinsonian reaction time deficit is more likely to be present in tas ks that controls can perform with a fast reaction time. This relations hip between deficit and control group reaction time applies to choice, but not simple, reaction time tasks. Many studies compare patient and control choice reaction times across experimental conditions that cau se control reaction time to vary. The authors of these studies should consider whether their results can be explained in terms of the simple relationship between patient reaction time deficit and control reacti on time before drawing more complex conclusions from their data. (C) 1 998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.