Serial reaction time learning and Parkinson's disease: evidence for a procedural learning deficit.
This paper presents evidence in support of a serial reaction time (SRT) deficit associated with Parkinson's disease, and related to the acquisition or execution of serial-order information. Eleven patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease, and 10 age-matched but otherwise healthy control subjects, were compared on a variant of the SRT task introduced by Nissen and Bullemer (Cognit. Psychol. 19, 1-32, 1987). The results of this study clearly demonstrate that PD patients produce a quite different pattern of RT performance to that of control subjects. Such a pattern of results may reflect either: (1) a deficit in the patients' ability to learn the temporal order information provided by a repeating sequence of target locations in the SRT task; or (2) a deficit in the patients' ability to express temporal order information provided by the repeating sequence of target locations in the SRT task.
Jackson
G M
GM
Human Movement Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, U.K.
Jackson
S R
SR
Harrison
J
J
Henderson
L
L
Kennard
C
C
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis