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Skilled hand dexterity in Parkinson's disease: effects of adding a concurrent task
Elizabeth L Proud1, Meg E Morris
1Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine, Physiotherapy, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. eproud@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au <eproud@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au>
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
|May 4, 2010
Summary
People with Parkinson's disease (PD) have reduced manual dexterity. Adding a cognitive task further impaired dexterity and cognitive performance in the PD group more than in healthy individuals.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Human Movement Science
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor control.
- Manual dexterity is often impaired in individuals with PD.
- Understanding dual-tasking deficits is crucial for daily functioning in PD patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare manual dexterity performance between people with PD and unimpaired individuals.
- To investigate the impact of a secondary cognitive task on dexterity in both groups.
- To quantify dual-task interference in PD.
Main Methods:
- A repeated measures design was employed in a human movement laboratory.
- Participants included 22 individuals with idiopathic PD and 22 age- and sex-matched controls.
- Performance was assessed on the Purdue Pegboard Test under unitask and dual-task conditions with a verbal-cognitive task.
Main Results:
- Individuals with PD demonstrated significantly reduced manual dexterity compared to controls.
- Both groups showed decreased pegboard performance when the secondary task was introduced.
- The PD group exhibited a greater decline in cognitive task performance during dual-tasking.
Conclusions:
- Mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease significantly compromises manual dexterity.
- Dual-task interference disproportionately affects individuals with PD, impacting both motor and cognitive functions.
- These findings highlight the challenges PD patients face with concurrent task execution.
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