Volitional Suppression of Parkinsonian Resting Tremor.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We have observed in the clinic that a number of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can suppress their tremor at will for brief periods, by conscious mental processes. To our knowledge, the ability to consciously diminish one's resting tremor has not yet been reported nor assessed quantitatively.

Objective

To provide the first detailed systematic investigation of the phenomenon of voluntary tremor suppression in PD.

Methods

We examined changes in tremor characteristics during voluntary tremor suppression in 37 PD patients (on medication) presenting with rest tremor in their upper limb. We measured tremor oscillations with a triaxis accelerometer on the index finger of the most-affected hand (n = 27). With surface electromyography (EMG), we measure

SUBMITTER: Blakemore RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6660237 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature