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Visuo-motor coordination is normal in patients with major depression
Shraga Hocherman1, Alexander Dimant, Miguel Schwartz
1Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 9649, 31096 Haifa, Israel. shraga@tx.technion.ac.il
Parkinsonism & Related Disorders
|July 11, 2003
Summary
Major depression patients rarely show visuo-motor coordination deficits. Abnormal VMC in depression may indicate coexisting conditions like early Parkinson's disease (PD).
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Psychiatry
- Movement Disorders
Background:
- Major depression (MD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) share strong associations.
- Visuo-motor coordination (VMC) deficits are early indicators in Parkinson's disease.
- Previous research on VMC in major depression is inconclusive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate VMC performance in patients diagnosed with major depression.
- To determine if VMC dysfunction, common in PD, is present in MD patients.
Main Methods:
- Sixty-five patients with major depression were assessed using a VMC test.
- VMC performance was analyzed against demographic and clinical variables.
Main Results:
- A significant majority (83%) of MD patients exhibited normal VMC.
- VMC performance was independent of age, disease duration, depression severity, or treatment.
- A VMC deficit was observed in 17% of MD patients, unrelated to depression or its treatment.
Conclusions:
- Depression itself, or its treatment, does not appear to significantly impact VMC.
- The study suggests that abnormal VMC in MD patients may signify an underlying, possibly preclinical, coexisting condition.
- Preclinical Parkinson's disease is proposed as a potential explanation for VMC deficits in some major depression patients.