Skip to main content
Log in

Movement time and aging: a normative study in healthy subjects with the “Movement Time Analyzer®”

  • Original Articles
  • Published:
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background and aims: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most frequent neurodegenerative disorders characterized by bradykinesia, tremor at rest, and rigidity. Movement Time (MT) has been investigated in PD to evaluate bradykinesia and its levodopa-induced modifications. The Movement Time Analyzer® (MTA) is a simple, objective and reliable instrument to study MT, but no normative study has been reported to date. Methods: In a sample of normal subjects (n=68), we studied MT detected by MTA® in order to assess normative values, so that the MTA® could be used to evaluate patients with PD in daily clinical practice. Results: In normal subjects, MT progressively increased with aging, and was slower on the non-dominant side than on the dominant side. No differences were found between men or women. Conclusion: Our data provide further information about normative values on MT detected by MTA®, and indicate that age and handedness are the main variables influencing motor task performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Marsden CD. Slowness of movement in Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 1989; 4 (Suppl 1): 26–37.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Wilson SAK. Disorders of motility and of muscle tone with special reference to the corpus striatum. Lancet 1925; 2: 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Zappia M, Montesanti R, Colao R, Quattrone A. Usefulness of movement time in the assessment of Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol 1994; 241: 543–50.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Quattrone A, Zappia M. Oral pulse levodopa therapy in mild Parkinson’s disease. Neurology 1993; 43: 1161–3.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Zappia M, Montesanti R, Colao R, et al. Short-term levodopa test assessed by movement time accurately predicts dopaminergic responsiveness in Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 1997; 12: 103–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Zappia M, Oliveri RL, Bosco D, et al. The long-duration response to L-dopa in the treatment of early PD. Neurology 2000; 54: 1910–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Quattrone A, Zappia M, Aguglia U, et al. The subacute levodopa test for evaluating long duration response in Parkinson’s disease. Ann Neurol 1995; 38: 389–95.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Zappia M, Colao R, Montesanti R, et al. Long-duration response to levodopa influences the pharmacodynamics of short-duration response in Parkinson’s disease. Ann Neurol 1997; 42: 245–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zappia M, Oliveri RL, Montesanti R, et al. Loss of long-duration response to levodopa over time in PD: implications for wearing-off. Neurology 1999; 52: 763–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Zappia M, Bosco D, Plastino M, et al. Pharmacodynamics of the long-duration response to levodopa in PD. Neurology 1999; 53: 557–60.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Pollo A, Torre E, Lopiano L, et al. Expectation modulates the response to subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinsonian patients. Neuroreport 2002; 13: 1383–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kauranen K, Vanharanta H. Influences of aging, gender and hand-edness on motor performance of upper and lower extremities. Percept Mot Skills 1996; 82: 515–25.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. York JL, Biederman I. Effect of age and sex on reciprocal tapping performance. Percept Mot Skills 1990; 71: 675–84.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Shimoyama I, Ninchoji T, Uemura K. The finger-tapping test. A quantitative analysis. Arch Neurol 1990; 47: 681–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Smith CD, Umberger GH, Manning EL, et al. Critical decline in fine motor hand movements in human aging. Neurology 1999; 53: 1458–61.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Hallet M, Khoshbin S. A physiological mechanism of bradykinesia. Brain 1980; 103: 301–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mario Zappia MD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nicoletti, G., Arabia, G., Pugliese, P. et al. Movement time and aging: a normative study in healthy subjects with the “Movement Time Analyzer®”. Aging Clin Exp Res 17, 207–210 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03324598

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03324598

Keywords

Navigation