Abstract
Deficits in fine motor control are a common early symptom in people with Parkinson disease (PD) and may serve as an ideal marker for the response to therapeutic interventions and progression of the disease. The long-term goal of this research is to develop sensitive clinical markers that can be used to accurately assess disease progression and the response to therapeutic interventions. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the effects of medication on the attentional demands of precision (Pre) and power (Pow) grips in individuals with PD. In order to assess force control during precision and power grip, we used an instrumented twist-cap device. Performance on the motor task was quantified using peak force levels (PF) and the time to reach peak force (TTP). To assess attentional demands of the motor task, participants performed an auditory analog of the Stroop test while performing the motor task. Dual-task cost (DTC) for all outcome variables was calculated. Dual-task cost for response latency (RL DTC) for both grips were greater (P < 0.005) when participants were on medications(‘ONMeds’). Mean [95%CI]: Pre = 25.7[14.7–36.7], Pow = 37.08[26.5–47.7]) compared with off medications(‘OFFMeds’) (Pre = 12.6[1.5–23.6], Pow = 10.98[0.4–21.6]), suggesting that force control during both grip tasks may remain attentionally demanding even on medications.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agostino R, Curra A, Giovannelli M, Modugno N, Manfredi M, Berardelli A (2003) Impairment of individual finger movements in Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 18:560–565
Berardelli A, Rothwell JC, Thompson PD, Hallett M (2001) Pathophysiology of bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease. Brain 124:2131–2146
Berardelli A, Sabra AF, Hallett M (1983) Physiological mechanisms of rigidity in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 46:45–53
Brooks DJ, Frey KA, Marek KL, Oakes D, Paty D, Prentice R, Shults CW, Stoessl AJ (2003) Assessment of neuroimaging techniques as biomarkers of the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Exp Neurol 184(1):S68–S79
Contreras-Vidal JL, Stelmach GE (1995) A neural model of basal ganglia-thalamocortical relations in normal and parkinsonian movement. Biol Cybern 73:467–476
Contreras-Vidal JL, Stelmach GE (1996) Effects of Parkinsonism on motor control. Life Sci 58:165–176
de Lau LM, Breteler MM (2006) Epidemiology of Parkinson’s disease. Lancet Neurol 5:525–535
Dorsey ER, Constantinescu R, Thompson JP, Biglan KM, Holloway RG, Kieburtz K, Marshall FJ, Ravina BM, Schifitto G, Siderowf A, Tanner CM (2007) Projected number of people with Parkinson disease in the most populous nations, 2005 through 2030. Neurology 68:384–386
Fellows SJ, Noth J (2004) Grip force abnormalities in de novo Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 19:560–565
Fellows SJ, Noth J, Schwarz M (1998) Precision grip and Parkinson’s disease. Brain 121(9):1771–1784
Hochstadt J (2009) Set-shifting and the on-line processing of relative clauses in Parkinson’s disease: results from a novel eye-tracking method. Cortex 45:991–1011
McDonald C, Brown GG, Gorell JM (1996) Impaired set-shifting in Parkinson’s disease: new evidence from a lexical decision task. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 18:793–809
Pirker W, Djamshidian S, Asenbaum S, Gerschlager W, Tribl G, Hoffmann M, Brucke T (2002) Progression of dopaminergic degeneration in Parkinson’s disease and atypical parkinsonism: a longitudinal beta-CIT SPECT study. Mov Disord 17:45–53
Richards M, Cote LJ, Stern Y (1993) Executive function in Parkinson’s disease: set-shifting or set-maintenance? J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 15:266–279
Rochester L, Burn DJ, Woods G, Godwin J, Nieuwboer A (2009) Does auditory rhythmical cueing improve gait in people with Parkinson’s disease and cognitive impairment? A feasibility study Mov Disord 24:839–845
Smaby NJM, Baker B, Kenney DE, Murray WM, Hentz VR (2004) Identification of key pinch forces required to complete functional tasks. J Rehabil Res Dev 41:215–224
Spielman J, Ramig LO, Mahler L, Halpern A, Gavin WJ (2007) Effects of an extended version of the lee silverman voice treatment on voice and speech in Parkinson’s disease. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 16:95–107
Uitti RJ, Baba Y, Wszolek ZK, Putzke DJ (2005) Defining the Parkinson’s disease phenotype: initial symptoms and baseline characteristics in a clinical cohort. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 11:139–145
Vaillancourt DE, Yu H, Mayka MA, Corcos DM (2007) Role of the basal ganglia and frontal cortex in selecting and producing internally guided force pulses. Neuroimage 36:793–803
Visser M, Marinus J, Stiggelbout AM, van Hilten JJ (2006) Responsiveness of impairments and disabilities in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 12:314–318
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by the University of Washington—Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (NIDRR training grant number H133P080008).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pradhan, S.D., Scherer, R., Matsuoka, Y. et al. Use of sensitive devices to assess the effect of medication on attentional demands of precision and power grips in individuals with Parkinson disease. Med Biol Eng Comput 49, 1195–1199 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-011-0798-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-011-0798-z