KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE REACH TO GRASP MOVEMENT IN PARKINSONS-AND-HUNTINGTONS-DISEASE SUBJECTS

This experiment investigates the kinematic characteristics of the reac h to grasp movement of Parkinson's and Huntington's disease subjects u nder two different experimental conditions. In the first condition sub jects were required to perform the movement at a normal speed, while i n the second condition they were required to perform the movement as f ast as possible. Results showed that the kinematic parameterization of movement in Parkinson's disease subjects did not differ from that of age-matched control subjects for both the normal and the fast conditio n. However, the performances of Huntington's disease subjects appeared to be different when compared to the other two groups. Differences we re mainly related to Huntington's disease patients' inability to prope rly define the temporal features of the movements. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.