Understanding the role of the basal ganglia in normal movement control, together with the motor disturbances that occur in Parkinson's disease, is of great importance both in relation to lucidating the pathogenesis of the disorder and in providing improved strategies for management of the illness's incapacitating symptoms. The hypothesis to be examined is that basal ganglia impairment, as reflected in Parkinsonism, causes a disruption in motor planning and motor organization processes. This general hypothesis is probed via several experiments that systematically examine the motor control components in two prehension skills. Parkinson's disease patients, and age and gender matched control subjects will be tested before medication intake. It is postulated that PD patients will show a selective dissociation between the transport and grasp components for reaching and grasping, between the increase in grip force and force rate peaks in precision gripping, and between distal and proximal joints in handwriting. The movement disorders and neuroscience communities will be served by these experiments since they have the potential to inform how basal ganglia impairment alters the delivery of prepared motor programs that contain multiple components.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01NS017421-08A2
Application #
2263193
Study Section
Neurology A Study Section (NEUA)
Project Start
1984-07-01
Project End
1997-04-30
Budget Start
1994-05-01
Budget End
1995-04-30
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
188435911
City
Tempe
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85287
Seidler, R D; Stelmach, G E (2000) Trunk-assisted prehension: specification of body segments with imposed temporal constraints. J Mot Behav 32:379-89
Thomas, J R; Yan, J H; Stelmach, G E (2000) Movement substructures change as a function of practice in children and adults. J Exp Child Psychol 75:228-44
Rand, M K; Stelmach, G E; Bloedel, J R (2000) Movement accuracy constraints in Parkinson's disease patients. Neuropsychologia 38:203-12
Yan, J H; Thomas, J R; Stelmach, G E et al. (2000) Developmental features of rapid aiming arm movements across the lifespan. J Mot Behav 32:121-40
Alberts, J L; Tresilian, J R; Stelmach, G E (1998) The co-ordination and phasing of a bilateral prehension task. The influence of Parkinson's disease. Brain 121 ( Pt 4):725-42
Seidler-Dobrin, R D; He, J; Stelmach, G E (1998) Coactivation to reduce variability in the elderly. Motor Control 2:314-30
Saling, M; Alberts, J; Stelmach, G E et al. (1998) Reach-to-grasp movements during obstacle avoidance. Exp Brain Res 118:251-8
Wang, J; Stelmach, G E (1998) Coordination among the body segments during reach-to-grasp action involving the trunk. Exp Brain Res 123:346-50
Seidler-Dobrin, R D; Stelmach, G E (1998) Persistence in visual feedback control by the elderly. Exp Brain Res 119:467-74
Rand, M K; Alberts, J L; Stelmach, G E et al. (1997) The influence of movement segment difficulty on movements with two-stroke sequence. Exp Brain Res 115:137-46

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