Motor planning is impaired in Parkinson's disease.
Reaction times (RTs) were assessed in parkinsonian and normal subjects under simple ballistic (bRT), simple tracking (tRT), and choice tracking (CRT) ankle plantarflexion RT paradigms. While RTs were prolonged in both groups for tracking versus bRT movements, between-group differences were not detectable for the simple RT (either ballistic or tracking) tasks. In contrast, parkinsonians demonstrated significantly greater CRT and CRT-bRT delays than normals, suggesting that parkinsonian akinesia may involve a disturbance in central processing related to motor planning.
Rogers
M W
MW
School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Que., Canada.
Chan
C W
CW
D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009132:Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology