Submovements in manual tracking: people with Parkinson's disease produce more submovements than age-matched controls.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In general, people are unable to produce slow, smooth movements - as movements become slower (i.e., with longer durations), they become jerkier. A hallmark feature of Parkinson's disease is bradykinesia - slowness of movement. In this study, we investigate the intersection of these two observations - how do people with Parkinson's disease (PwP) perform in a slow tracking task, and how does it vary as a function of movement frequency? On the one hand, as PwP move more slowly in day-to-day life, they may be better in a slow tracking task. On the other hand, their general impairment in movement production may lead to worse tracking outcomes.

Methods

We used a well-tested tracking task known as the one-person mirror game, where participants control the left-right move

SUBMITTER: Noy L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11884197 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature