A physiological mechanism of bradykinesia

Patients with Parkinson's disease were asked to make ballistic elbow flexion movements of 10, 20 and 40 degrees. Normal subjects made all these movements in the same amount of time with a single 'triphasic' EMG pattern of successive bursts in biceps, triceps and biceps. Almost all the patients made some movements requiring additional cycles of alternating biceps and triceps activity. Most of the patients exhibited at least one example of a longer movement taking more cycles than a shorter movement. It is argued that this behaviour explains previous kinematic analyses of movement in patients with Parkinson's disease and represents a physiological mechanism of bradykinesia. In part on the basis of the data presented here, it is suggested that a normal role of the basal ganglia in movement is to energize the appropriate muscles required to make the movement.