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Hypometria and bradykinesia during drawing movements in individuals with Parkinson’s disease

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Abstract

To address the hypothesis that Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have deficits in controlling acceleration, a drawing task was used in which target size, frequency, and weight of pen were manipulated. In accordance with previous results, it was found that, relative to controls, PD patients produced movements at the required frequency, but moved significantly slower, produced less acceleration, and drew smaller-than-required stroke sizes. This resulted in smaller-than-required movement amplitudes, suggesting that hypometria and bradykinesia in drawing and/or handwriting are related. Patients were found to perform similarly to controls when the target size was 1 cm. However, their performance became more dissimilar at greater stroke lengths. In addition to the aforementioned effects it was found that movement amplitude error was less when the pen was 20 times heavier than the normal pen and that the increased load may dampen abnormal limb-stiffness characteristics induced by PD.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NINDS grants NS33173 and NS40266. Preliminary results were presented at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference, San Diego, CA, 2004. We thank the students, the elderly, and the Parkinson’s disease patients for their willingness to participate in this experiment. Furthermore, the authors are indebted to Kaushik Bhatt for Matlab programming.

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Author notes

  1. Michael P. Broderick

    Present address: Naval Health Research Center, Code 25, P.O. Box 85122, San Diego, CA, 92186, USA

  2. Arend W. A. Van Gemmert

    Present address: Department of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, 112 HP Long Fieldhouse, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

  3. Holly A. Shill

    Present address: Cleo Roberts Center of Clinical Research, Sun Health Research Institute, 10515 W. Santa Fe Dr., Sun City, AZ, 85351, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Motor Control Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 870404, Tempe, AZ, 85287-0404, USA

    Michael P. Broderick, Arend W. A. Van Gemmert & George E. Stelmach

  2. Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, 85013, USA

    Holly A. Shill

Authors
  1. Michael P. Broderick
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  2. Arend W. A. Van Gemmert
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  3. Holly A. Shill
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  4. George E. Stelmach
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arend W. A. Van Gemmert.

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Broderick, M.P., Van Gemmert, A.W.A., Shill, H.A. et al. Hypometria and bradykinesia during drawing movements in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Exp Brain Res 197, 223–233 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-1925-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-009-1925-z

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