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.
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