Mk. Rand et Ge. Stelmach, Effects of increased stroke number on sequential arm movements in Parkinson's disease subjects, PARKINS R D, 5(1-2), 1999, pp. 27-35
To examine whether multiple-component movements performed by Parkinson's di
sease (PD) patients are impaired differentially depending on the number of
strokes, 10 PD patients and 10 age-matched control subjects performed seque
ntial arm movements with one, two or three strokes on a digitizer. The pati
ents were slower than the controls in executing the movement sequences and
showed prolonged delays between strokes. These slowing characteristics were
accentuated as stroke number increased from two to three. These results su
ggest that PD patients have a reduced capacity to process information rapid
ly, thereby limiting their ability to perform complex movements. (C) 1999 E
lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.