Sample records for task-specific movement disorder

  1. Primary bowing tremor: a task-specific movement disorder of string instrumentalists.

    PubMed

    Lederman, Richard J

    2012-12-01

    Fear of a tremulous or unsteady bow is widespread among string instrumentalists. Faulty technique and performance anxiety have generally been blamed. The cases of 4 high-level violinists and 1 violist, 3 women and 2 men, with uncontrollable bow tremor are presented. Age at onset was from 16 to 75 years, and symptom duration 8 months to 20 years at the time of neurological evaluation. The degree of tremor varied with type of bow stroke and even the portion of the bow contacting the string. Only 1 patient had a slight postural tremor of the opposite limb. In 3 of 5 the tremor was task-specific; the other 2 had mild and nontroubling tremor with other activities. The tremor appeared to worsen over time but then seemed to stabilize. The characteristics of this tremor appear to be distinguishable from the features of both essential tremor and focal dystonia; comparison is made with representative string players afflicted by these other disorders. Analogy of this tremor is made with primary writing tremor, a well-defined task-specific movement disorder also sharing at least some features with both essential tremor and writers' cramp, a focal dystonia. Hence, it was decided to call this primary bowing tremor. Clinical features, family history, diagnostic studies, and responsiveness to treatment of primary writing tremor are discussed to emphasize the similarity to primary bowing tremor. This appears to represent a previously unreported form of task-specific movement disorder of string instrumentalists.

  2. Extreme Task-Specificity in Writer’s Cramp

    PubMed Central

    Shamim, Ejaz A.; Chu, Jason; Scheider, Linda H.; Savitt, Joseph; Jinnah, H. A.; Hallett, Mark

    2011-01-01

    Background Focal hand dystonia may be task-specific as is the case with writer’s cramp (WC). In early stages, the task-specificity can be so specific that it may be mistaken for a psychogenic movement disorder. Methods We describe four patients who showed extreme task specificity in WC. They initially only had problems writing either a single letter or number. Although they were largely thought to be psychogenic, they progressed to typical WC. Conclusions Early recognition of this condition may provide an opportunity for early initiation of treatment. PMID:21714006

  3. A unifying motor control framework for task-specific dystonia

    PubMed Central

    Rothwell, John C.; Edwards, Mark J.

    2018-01-01

    Task-specific dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by the development of a painless loss of dexterity specific to a particular motor skill. This disorder is prevalent among writers, musicians, dancers and athletes. No current treatment is predictably effective and the disorder generally ends the careers of affected individuals. There are a number of limitations with traditional dystonic disease models for task-specific dystonia. We therefore review emerging evidence that the disorder has its origins within normal compensatory mechanisms of a healthy motor system in which the representation and reproduction of motor skill is disrupted. We describe how risk factors for task-specific dystonia can be stratified and translated into mechanisms of dysfunctional motor control. The proposed model aims to define new directions for experimental research and stimulate therapeutic advances for this highly disabling disorder. PMID:29104291

  4. Task-specific Dystonias

    PubMed Central

    Torres-Russotto, Diego; Perlmutter, Joel S.

    2009-01-01

    Task-specific dystonias are primary focal dystonias characterized by excessive muscle contractions producing abnormal postures during selective motor activities that often involve highly skilled, repetitive movements. Historically these peculiar postures were considered psychogenic but have now been classified as forms of dystonia. Writer’s cramp is the most commonly identified task-specific dystonia and has features typical of this group of disorders. Symptoms may begin with lack of dexterity during performance of a specific motor task with increasingly abnormal posturing of the involved body part as motor activity continues. Initially, the dystonia may manifest only during the performance of the inciting task, but as the condition progresses it may also occur during other activities or even at rest. Neurological exam is usually unremarkable except for the dystonia-related abnormalities. Although the precise pathophysiology remains unclear, increasing evidence suggests reduced inhibition at different levels of the sensorimotor system. Symptomatic treatment options include oral medications, botulinum toxin injections, neurosurgical procedures, and adaptive strategies. Prognosis may vary depending upon body part involved and specific type of task affected. Further research may reveal new insights into the etiology, pathophysiology, natural history, and improved treatment of these conditions. PMID:18990127

  5. Variations in Articulatory Movement with Changes in Speech Task.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tasko, Stephen M.; McClean, Michael D.

    2004-01-01

    Studies of normal and disordered articulatory movement often rely on the use of short, simple speech tasks. However, the severity of speech disorders can be observed to vary markedly with task. Understanding task-related variations in articulatory kinematic behavior may allow for an improved understanding of normal and disordered speech motor…

  6. Eye Movement Indices in the Study of Depressive Disorder.

    PubMed

    Li, Yu; Xu, Yangyang; Xia, Mengqing; Zhang, Tianhong; Wang, Junjie; Liu, Xu; He, Yongguang; Wang, Jijun

    2016-12-25

    Impaired cognition is one of the most common core symptoms of depressive disorder. Eye movement testing mainly reflects patients' cognitive functions, such as cognition, memory, attention, recognition, and recall. This type of testing has great potential to improve theories related to cognitive functioning in depressive episodes as well as potential in its clinical application. This study investigated whether eye movement indices of patients with unmedicated depressive disorder were abnormal or not, as well as the relationship between these indices and mental symptoms. Sixty patients with depressive disorder and sixty healthy controls (who were matched by gender, age and years of education) were recruited, and completed eye movement tests including three tasks: fixation task, saccade task and free-view task. The EyeLink desktop eye tracking system was employed to collect eye movement information, and analyze the eye movement indices of the three tasks between the two groups. (1) In the fixation task, compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed more fixations, shorter fixation durations, more saccades and longer saccadic lengths; (2) In the saccade task, patients with depressive disorder showed longer anti-saccade latencies and smaller anti-saccade peak velocities; (3) In the free-view task, patients with depressive disorder showed fewer saccades and longer mean fixation durations; (4) Correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the pro-saccade amplitude and anxiety symptoms, and a positive correlation between the anti-saccade latency and anxiety symptoms. The depression symptoms were negatively correlated with fixation times, saccades, and saccadic paths respectively in the free-view task; while the mean fixation duration and depression symptoms showed a positive correlation. Compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed significantly abnormal eye movement indices. In addition

  7. The predictive value of general movement tasks in assessing occupational task performance.

    PubMed

    Frost, David M; Beach, Tyson A C; McGill, Stuart M; Callaghan, Jack P

    2015-01-01

    Within the context of evaluating individuals' movement behavior it is generally assumed that the tasks chosen will predict their competency to perform activities relevant to their occupation. This study sought to examine whether a battery of general tasks could be used to predict the movement patterns employed by firefighters to perform select job-specific skills. Fifty-two firefighters performed a battery of general and occupation-specific tasks that simulated the demands of firefighting. Participants' peak lumbar spine and frontal plane knee motion were compared across tasks. During 85% of all comparisons, the magnitude of spine and knee motion was greater during the general movement tasks than observed during the firefighting skills. Certain features of a worker's movement behavior may be exhibited across a range of tasks. Therefore, provided that a movement screen's tasks expose the motions of relevance for the population being tested, general evaluations could offer valuable insight into workers' movement competency or facilitate an opportunity to establish an evidence-informed intervention.

  8. Eye Movement Indices in the Study of Depressive Disorder

    PubMed Central

    LI, Yu; XU, Yangyang; XIA, Mengqing; ZHANG, Tianhong; WANG, Junjie; LIU, Xu; HE, Yongguang; WANG, Jijun

    2016-01-01

    Background Impaired cognition is one of the most common core symptoms of depressive disorder. Eye movement testing mainly reflects patients’ cognitive functions, such as cognition, memory, attention, recognition, and recall. This type of testing has great potential to improve theories related to cognitive functioning in depressive episodes as well as potential in its clinical application. Aims This study investigated whether eye movement indices of patients with unmedicated depressive disorder were abnormal or not, as well as the relationship between these indices and mental symptoms. Methods Sixty patients with depressive disorder and sixty healthy controls (who were matched by gender, age and years of education) were recruited, and completed eye movement tests including three tasks: fixation task, saccade task and free-view task. The EyeLink desktop eye tracking system was employed to collect eye movement information, and analyze the eye movement indices of the three tasks between the two groups. Results (1) In the fixation task, compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed more fixations, shorter fixation durations, more saccades and longer saccadic lengths; (2) In the saccade task, patients with depressive disorder showed longer anti-saccade latencies and smaller anti-saccade peak velocities; (3) In the free-view task, patients with depressive disorder showed fewer saccades and longer mean fixation durations; (4) Correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the pro-saccade amplitude and anxiety symptoms, and a positive correlation between the anti-saccade latency and anxiety symptoms. The depression symptoms were negatively correlated with fixation times, saccades, and saccadic paths respectively in the free-view task; while the mean fixation duration and depression symptoms showed a positive correlation. Conclusion Compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed significantly

  9. Psychogenic Movement Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Morgante, Francesca; Edwards, Mark J.; Espay, Alberto J.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose of Review This review describes the main clinical features of psychogenic (functional) movement disorders and reports recent advances in diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment. Recent Findings The terminology and definition of patients with psychogenic movement disorders remain subjects of controversy; the term “functional” has been used more frequently in the literature in recent years regarding the neurobiological substrate underpinning these disorders. Correct diagnosis of psychogenic movement disorders should rely not on the exclusion of organic disorders or the sole presence of psychological factors but on the observation or elicitation of clinical features related to the specific movement disorder (ie, a positive or inclusionary rather than exclusionary diagnosis). Sudden onset, spontaneous remissions, and variability over time or during clinical examination are useful “red flags” suggestive of a psychogenic movement disorder. Imaging studies have demonstrated impaired connectivity between limbic and motor areas involved in movement programming and hypoactivity of a brain region that compares expected data with actual sensory data occurring during voluntary movement. Treatment of psychogenic movement disorders begins with ensuring the patient’s acceptance of the diagnosis during the initial debriefing and includes nonpharmacologic (cognitive-behavioral therapy, physiotherapy) and pharmacologic options. Summary Psychogenic movement disorders represent a challenging disorder for neurologists to diagnose and treat. Recent advances have increased understanding of the neurobiological mechanism of psychogenic movement disorders. Treatment with cognitive strategies and physical rehabilitation can benefit some patients. As short duration of disease correlates with better prognosis, early diagnosis and initiation of treatment are critical. PMID:24092294

  10. Sleep-related movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Merlino, Giovanni; Gigli, Gian Luigi

    2012-06-01

    Several movement disorders may occur during nocturnal rest disrupting sleep. A part of these complaints is characterized by relatively simple, non-purposeful and usually stereotyped movements. The last version of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders includes these clinical conditions (i.e. restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, sleep-related leg cramps, sleep-related bruxism and sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder) under the category entitled sleep-related movement disorders. Moreover, apparently physiological movements (e.g. alternating leg muscle activation and excessive hypnic fragmentary myoclonus) can show a high frequency and severity impairing sleep quality. Clinical and, in specific cases, neurophysiological assessments are required to detect the presence of nocturnal movement complaints. Patients reporting poor sleep due to these abnormal movements should undergo non-pharmacological or pharmacological treatments.

  11. Eye-movements and ongoing task processing.

    PubMed

    Burke, David T; Meleger, Alec; Schneider, Jeffrey C; Snyder, Jim; Dorvlo, Atsu S S; Al-Adawi, Samir

    2003-06-01

    This study tests the relation between eye-movements and thought processing. Subjects were given specific modality tasks (visual, gustatory, kinesthetic) and assessed on whether they responded with distinct eye-movements. Some subjects' eye-movements reflected ongoing thought processing. Instead of a universal pattern, as suggested by the neurolinguistic programming hypothesis, this study yielded subject-specific idiosyncratic eye-movements across all modalities. Included is a discussion of the neurolinguistic programming hypothesis regarding eye-movements and its implications for the eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing theory.

  12. Movement interference in autism-spectrum disorder.

    PubMed

    Gowen, E; Stanley, J; Miall, R C

    2008-03-07

    Movement interference occurs when concurrently observing and executing incompatible actions and is believed to be due to co-activation of conflicting populations of mirror neurons. It has also been suggested that mirror neurons contribute towards the imitation of observed actions. However, the exact neural substrate of imitation may depend on task demands: a processing route for goal-directed meaningful actions may be distinct from one for non-goal-directed actions. A more controversial role proposed for these neurons is in theory of mind processing, along with the subsequent suggestion that impairment in the mirror neuron circuit can contribute to autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) where individuals have theory of mind deficits. We have therefore examined movement interference in nine ASD participants and nine matched controls while performing actions congruent and incongruent with observed meaningless arm movements. We hypothesised that if the mirror neuron system was impaired, reduced interference should be observed in the ASD group. However, control and ASD participants demonstrated an equivalent interference effect in an interpersonal condition, with greater movement variability in the incongruent compared to the congruent condition. A component of movement interference which is independent of congruency did differ between groups: ASD participants made generally more variable movements for the interpersonal task than for biological dot-motion task, while the reverse was true for the control participants. We interpret these results as evidence that the ASD participant group either rely to a greater extent on the goal-directed imitation pathway, supporting claims that they have a specific deficit of the non-goal-directed imitation pathway, or exhibit reduced visuomotor integration.

  13. Acute movement disorders in the medical setting.

    PubMed

    Zawar, Ifrah; Caro, Mario A; Feldman, Lara; Jimenez, Xavier F

    2016-07-01

    Objective Psychosomatic medicine psychiatrists are often tasked with the evaluation and treatment of complex neuropsychiatric states which may be motoric in phenotype. Little energy has been dedicated to understanding acute movement disorders in the hospital environment. Method Recognizing the importance of frontal-subcortical (corticostriatothalamocortical) circuitry and basal ganglia structures, we present a case series of acute movement disorder phenotypes resulting from underlying medical conditions, commonly-administered medications, or the interaction of both. We organize these scenarios into neurodegenerative disorders, primary psychiatric disorders, neuroinflammation, and polypharmacy, demonstrating a clinical example of each followed by background references on a variety of clinical states and medications contributing to acute movement disorders. In addition, we offer visual illustration of implicated neurocircuitry as well as proposed neurotransmitter imbalances involving glutamate, gamma aminobutyric acid, and dopamine. Furthermore, we review the various clinical syndromes and medications involved in the development of acute movement disorders. Results Acute movement disorder's involve complex interactions between frontal-subcortical circuits and acute events. Given the complexity of interactions, psychopharmacological considerations become critical, as some treatments may alleviate acute movement disorders while others will exacerbate them. Conclusion Integrating underlying medical conditions and acutely administered (or discontinued) pharmacological agents offers an interactional, neuromedical approach to acute movement disorders that is critical to the work of psychosomatic medicine.

  14. Postural reconfiguration and cycle-to-cycle variability in patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders compared to healthy controls and in relation to pain emerging during a repetitive movement task.

    PubMed

    Longo, Alessia; Meulenbroek, Ruud; Haid, Thomas; Federolf, Peter

    2018-05-01

    Movement variability in sustained repetitive tasks is an important factor in the context of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. While a popular hypothesis suggests that movement variability can prevent overuse injuries, pain evolving during task execution may also cause variability. The aim of the current study was to investigate, first, differences in movement behavior between volunteers with and without work-related pain and, second, the influence of emerging pain on movement variability. Upper-body 3D kinematics were collected as 22 subjects with musculoskeletal disorders and 19 healthy volunteers performed a bimanual repetitive tapping task with a self-chosen and a given rhythm. Three subgroups were formed within the patient group according to the level of pain the participants experienced during the task. Principal component analysis was applied to 30 joint angle coordinates to characterize in a combined analysis the movement variability associated with reconfigurations of the volunteers' postures and the cycle-to-cycle variability that occurred during the execution of the task. Patients with no task-related pain showed lower cycle-to-cycle variability compared to healthy controls. Findings also indicated an increase in movement variability as pain emerged, manifesting both as frequent postural changes and large cycle-to-cycle variability. The findings suggested a relationship between work-related musculoskeletal disorders and movement variability but further investigation is needed on this issue. Additionally, the findings provided clear evidence that pain increased motor variability. Postural reconfigurations and cycle-to-cycle variability should be considered jointly when investigating movement variability and musculoskeletal disorders. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Subjective Estimation of Task Time and Task Difficulty of Simple Movement Tasks.

    PubMed

    Chan, Alan H S; Hoffmann, Errol R

    2017-01-01

    It has been demonstrated in previous work that the same neural structures are used for both imagined and real movements. To provide a strong test of the similarity of imagined and actual movement times, 4 simple movement tasks were used to determine the relationship between estimated task time and actual movement time. The tasks were single-component visually controlled movements, 2-component visually controlled, low index of difficulty (ID) moves and pin-to-hole transfer movements. For each task there was good correspondence between the mean estimated times and actual movement times. In all cases, the same factors determined the actual and estimated movement times: the amplitudes of movement and the IDs of the component movements, however the contribution of each of these variables differed for the imagined and real tasks. Generally, the standard deviations of the estimated times were linearly related to the estimated time values. Overall, the data provide strong evidence for the same neural structures being used for both imagined and actual movements.

  16. Saccadic eye movement applications for psychiatric disorders

    PubMed Central

    Bittencourt, Juliana; Velasques, Bruna; Teixeira, Silmar; Basile, Luis F; Salles, José Inácio; Nardi, Antonio Egídio; Budde, Henning; Cagy, Mauricio; Piedade, Roberto; Ribeiro, Pedro

    2013-01-01

    Objective The study presented here analyzed the patterns of relationship between oculomotor performance and psychopathology, focusing on depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety disorder. Methods Scientific articles published from 1967 to 2013 in the PubMed/Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge, Cochrane, and SciELO databases were reviewed. Results Saccadic eye movement appears to be heavily involved in psychiatric diseases covered in this review via a direct mechanism. The changes seen in the execution of eye movement tasks in patients with psychopathologies of various studies confirm that eye movement is associated with the cognitive and motor system. Conclusion Saccadic eye movement changes appear to be heavily involved in the psychiatric disorders covered in this review and may be considered a possible marker of some disorders. The few existing studies that approach the topic demonstrate a need to improve the experimental paradigms, as well as the methods of analysis. Most of them report behavioral variables (latency/reaction time), though electrophysiological measures are absent. PMID:24072973

  17. Shared and disorder-specific task-positive and default mode network dysfunctions during sustained attention in paediatric Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and obsessive/compulsive disorder.

    PubMed

    Norman, Luke J; Carlisi, Christina O; Christakou, Anastasia; Cubillo, Ana; Murphy, Clodagh M; Chantiluke, Kaylita; Simmons, Andrew; Giampietro, Vincent; Brammer, Michael; Mataix-Cols, David; Rubia, Katya

    2017-01-01

    Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and obsessive/compulsive disorder (OCD) share problems with sustained attention, and are proposed to share deficits in switching between default mode and task positive networks. The aim of this study was to investigate shared and disorder-specific brain activation abnormalities during sustained attention in the two disorders. Twenty boys with ADHD, 20 boys with OCD and 20 age-matched healthy controls aged between 12 and 18 years completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) version of a parametrically modulated sustained attention task with a progressively increasing sustained attention load. Performance and brain activation were compared between groups. Only ADHD patients were impaired in performance. Group by sustained attention load interaction effects showed that OCD patients had disorder-specific middle anterior cingulate underactivation relative to controls and ADHD patients, while ADHD patients showed disorder-specific underactivation in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex/dorsal inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). ADHD and OCD patients shared left insula/ventral IFG underactivation and increased activation in posterior default mode network relative to controls, but had disorder-specific overactivation in anterior default mode regions, in dorsal anterior cingulate for ADHD and in anterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex for OCD. In sum, ADHD and OCD patients showed mostly disorder-specific patterns of brain abnormalities in both task positive salience/ventral attention networks with lateral frontal deficits in ADHD and middle ACC deficits in OCD, as well as in their deactivation patterns in medial frontal DMN regions. The findings suggest that attention performance in the two disorders is underpinned by disorder-specific activation patterns.

  18. Nonspeech Oral Movements and Oral Motor Disorders: A Narrative Review.

    PubMed

    Kent, Ray D

    2015-11-01

    Speech and other oral functions such as swallowing have been compared and contrasted with oral behaviors variously labeled quasispeech, paraspeech, speechlike, and nonspeech, all of which overlap to some degree in neural control, muscles deployed, and movements performed. Efforts to understand the relationships among these behaviors are hindered by the lack of explicit and widely accepted definitions. This review article offers definitions and taxonomies for nonspeech oral movements and for diverse speaking tasks, both overt and covert. Review of the literature included searches of Medline, Google Scholar, HighWire Press, and various online sources. Search terms pertained to speech, quasispeech, paraspeech, speechlike, and nonspeech oral movements. Searches also were carried out for associated terms in oral biology, craniofacial physiology, and motor control. Nonspeech movements have a broad spectrum of clinical applications, including developmental speech and language disorders, motor speech disorders, feeding and swallowing difficulties, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, trismus, and tardive stereotypies. The role and benefit of nonspeech oral movements are controversial in many oral motor disorders. It is argued that the clinical value of these movements can be elucidated through careful definitions and task descriptions such as those proposed in this review article.

  19. A functional MRI study of working memory task in euthymic bipolar disorder: evidence for task-specific dysfunction.

    PubMed

    Monks, Paul J; Thompson, Jill M; Bullmore, Edward T; Suckling, John; Brammer, Michael J; Williams, Steve C R; Simmons, Andrew; Giles, Nicola; Lloyd, Adrian J; Harrison, C Louise; Seal, Marc; Murray, Robin M; Ferrier, I Nicol; Young, Allan H; Curtis, Vivienne A

    2004-12-01

    Even when euthymic bipolar disorder patients can have persistent deficits in working memory, but the neural basis of this deficit remains unclear. We undertook an functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of euthymic bipolar disorder patients performing two working memory paradigms; the two-back and Sternberg tasks, selected to examine the central executive and the phonological loop respectively. We hypothesized that neuronal dysfunction would be specific to the network underlying the executive rather than the phonological loop component of working memory. Twelve right-handed euthymic bipolar I males receiving lithium carbonate monotherapy were matched with 12 controls. The two-back task comprised a single working memory load contrasted with baseline vigilance condition. The Sternberg paradigm used a parametric design incorporating variable working memory load with fixed delay between presentation of an array of items to be remembered and a target item. Functional activation data were acquired during performance of the tasks and were analysed to produce brain activation maps representing significant group differences in activation (ANOVA). Load-response curves were derived from the Sternberg task data set. There were no significant between-group differences (t-test) in performance of the two-back task, or in 2 x 5 group by memory load ANOVA for the performance data from Sternberg task. In the two-back task, compared with controls bipolar disorder patients showed reductions in bilateral frontal, temporal and parietal activation, and increased activations with the left precentral, right medial frontal and left supramarginal gyri. No between-group differences were observed in the Sternberg task at any working memory load. Our findings support the notion that, in euthymic bipolar disorder, failure to engage fronto-executive function underpins the core neuropsychological deficits. Blackwell Munksgaard, 2004

  20. Sensorimotor integration: basic concepts, abnormalities related to movement disorders and sensorimotor training-induced cortical reorganization.

    PubMed

    Machado, Sergio; Cunha, Marlo; Velasques, Bruna; Minc, Daniel; Teixeira, Silmar; Domingues, Clayton A; Silva, Julio G; Bastos, Victor H; Budde, Henning; Cagy, Mauricio; Basile, Luis; Piedade, Roberto; Ribeiro, Pedro

    2010-10-01

    Sensorimotor integration is defined as the capability of the central nervous system to integrate different sources of stimuli, and parallelly, to transform such inputs in motor actions. To review the basic principles of sensorimotor integration, such as, its neural bases and its elementary mechanisms involved in specific goal-directed tasks performed by healthy subjects, and the abnormalities reported in the most common movement disorders, such as, Parkinson' disease, dystonia and stroke, like the cortical reorganization-related mechanisms. Whether these disorders are associated with an abnormal peripheral sensory input or defective central processing is still unclear, but most of the data support a central mechanism. We found that the sensorimotor integration process plays a potential role in elementary mechanisms involved in specific goal-directed tasks performed by healthy subjects and in occurrence of abnormalities in most common movement disorders and, moreover, play a potential role on the acquisition of abilities that have as critical factor the coupling of different sensory data which will constitute the basis of elaboration of motor outputs consciously goal-directed.

  1. Parameterization of Movement Execution in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Waelvelde, Hilde; De Weerdt, Willy; De Cock, Paul; Janssens, Luc; Feys, Hilde; Engelsman, Bouwien C. M. Smits

    2006-01-01

    The Rhythmic Movement Test (RMT) evaluates temporal and amplitude parameterization and fluency of movement execution in a series of rhythmic arm movements under different sensory conditions. The RMT was used in combination with a jumping and a drawing task, to evaluate 36 children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and a matched…

  2. Nonspeech Oral Movements and Oral Motor Disorders: A Narrative Review

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Purpose Speech and other oral functions such as swallowing have been compared and contrasted with oral behaviors variously labeled quasispeech, paraspeech, speechlike, and nonspeech, all of which overlap to some degree in neural control, muscles deployed, and movements performed. Efforts to understand the relationships among these behaviors are hindered by the lack of explicit and widely accepted definitions. This review article offers definitions and taxonomies for nonspeech oral movements and for diverse speaking tasks, both overt and covert. Method Review of the literature included searches of Medline, Google Scholar, HighWire Press, and various online sources. Search terms pertained to speech, quasispeech, paraspeech, speechlike, and nonspeech oral movements. Searches also were carried out for associated terms in oral biology, craniofacial physiology, and motor control. Results and Conclusions Nonspeech movements have a broad spectrum of clinical applications, including developmental speech and language disorders, motor speech disorders, feeding and swallowing difficulties, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, trismus, and tardive stereotypies. The role and benefit of nonspeech oral movements are controversial in many oral motor disorders. It is argued that the clinical value of these movements can be elucidated through careful definitions and task descriptions such as those proposed in this review article. PMID:26126128

  3. Eye Movement Disorders

    MedlinePlus

    ... t work properly. There are many kinds of eye movement disorders. Two common ones are Strabismus - a disorder ... of the eyes, sometimes called "dancing eyes" Some eye movement disorders are present at birth. Others develop over ...

  4. Paraneoplastic autoimmune movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Lim, Thien Thien

    2017-11-01

    To provide an overview of paraneoplastic autoimmune disorders presenting with various movement disorders. The spectrum of paraneoplastic autoimmune disorders has been expanding with the discovery of new antibodies against cell surface and intracellular antigens. Many of these paraneoplastic autoimmune disorders manifest as a form of movement disorder. With the discovery of new neuronal antibodies, an increasing number of idiopathic or neurodegenerative movement disorders are now being reclassified as immune-mediated movement disorders. These include anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis which may present with orolingual facial dyskinesia and stereotyped movements, CRMP-5 IgG presenting with chorea, anti-Yo paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration presenting with ataxia, anti-VGKC complex (Caspr2 antibodies) neuromyotonia, opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome, and muscle rigidity and episodic spasms (amphiphysin, glutamic acid decarboxylase, glycine receptor, GABA(A)-receptor associated protein antibodies) in stiff-person syndrome. Movement disorders may be a presentation for paraneoplastic autoimmune disorders. Recognition of these disorders and their common phenomenology is important because it may lead to the discovery of an occult malignancy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. [Movement disorders is psychiatric diseases].

    PubMed

    Hidasi, Zoltan; Salacz, Pal; Csibri, Eva

    2014-12-01

    Movement disorders are common in psychiatry. The movement disorder can either be the symptom of a psychiatric disorder, can share a common aetiological factor with it, or can be the consequence of psychopharmacological therapy. Most common features include tic, stereotypy, compulsion, akathisia, dyskinesias, tremor, hypokinesia and disturbances of posture and gait. We discuss characteristics and clinical importance of these features. Movement disorders are frequently present in mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, catatonia, Tourette-disorder and psychogenic movement disorder, leading to differential-diagnostic and therapeutical difficulties in everyday practice. Movement disorders due to psychopharmacotherapy can be classified as early-onset, late-onset and tardive. Frequent psychiatric comorbidity is found in primary movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, Wilson's disease, Huntington's disease, diffuse Lewy-body disorder. Complex neuropsychiatric approach is effective concerning overlapping clinical features and spectrums of disorders in terms of movement disorders and psychiatric diseases.

  6. Clinical application of eye movement tasks as an aid to understanding Parkinson's disease pathophysiology.

    PubMed

    Fukushima, Kikuro; Fukushima, Junko; Barnes, Graham R

    2017-05-01

    Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the basal ganglia. Most PD patients suffer from somatomotor and oculomotor disorders. The oculomotor system facilitates obtaining accurate information from the visual world. If a target moves slowly in the fronto-parallel plane, tracking eye movements occur that consist primarily of smooth-pursuit interspersed with corrective saccades. Efficient smooth-pursuit requires appropriate target selection and predictive compensation for inherent processing delays. Although pursuit impairment, e.g. as latency prolongation or low gain (eye velocity/target velocity), is well known in PD, normal aging alone results in such changes. In this article, we first briefly review some basic features of smooth-pursuit, then review recent results showing the specific nature of impaired pursuit in PD using a cue-dependent memory-based smooth-pursuit task. This task was initially used for monkeys to separate two major components of prediction (image-motion direction memory and movement preparation), and neural correlates were examined in major pursuit pathways. Most PD patients possessed normal cue-information memory but extra-retinal mechanisms for pursuit preparation and execution were dysfunctional. A minority of PD patients had abnormal cue-information memory or difficulty in understanding the task. Some PD patients with normal cue-information memory changed strategy to initiate smooth tracking. Strategy changes were also observed to compensate for impaired pursuit during whole body rotation while the target moved with the head. We discuss PD pathophysiology by comparing eye movement task results with neuropsychological and motor symptom evaluations of individual patients and further with monkey results, and suggest possible neural circuits for these functions/dysfunctions.

  7. Cognitive and Psychiatric Phenotypes of Movement Disorders in Children: A Systematic Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ben-Pazi, Hilla; Jaworowski, Solomon; Shalev, Ruth S

    2011-01-01

    Aim: The cognitive and psychiatric aspects of adult movement disorders are well established, but specific behavioural profiles for paediatric movement disorders have not been delineated. Knowledge of non-motor phenotypes may guide treatment and determine which symptoms are suggestive of a specific movement disorder and which indicate medication…

  8. Classification of movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Fahn, Stanley

    2011-05-01

    The classification of movement disorders has evolved. Even the terminology has shifted, from an anatomical one of extrapyramidal disorders to a phenomenological one of movement disorders. The history of how this shift came about is described. The history of both the definitions and the classifications of the various neurologic conditions is then reviewed. First is a review of movement disorders as a group; then, the evolving classifications for 3 of them--parkinsonism, dystonia, and tremor--are covered in detail. Copyright © 2011 Movement Disorder Society.

  9. Rating Scales for Movement Disorders With Sleep Disturbances: A Narrative Review

    PubMed Central

    Rodríguez-Blázquez, Carmen; Forjaz, Maria João; Kurtis, Monica M.; Balestrino, Roberta; Martinez-Martin, Pablo

    2018-01-01

    Introduction: In recent years, a wide variety of rating scales and questionnaires for movement disorders have been developed and published, making reviews on their contents, and attributes convenient for the potential users. Sleep disorders are frequently present in movement disorders, and some movement disorders are accompanied by specific sleep difficulties. Aim: The aim of this study is to perform a narrative review of the most frequently used rating scales for movement disorders with sleep problems, with special attention to those recommended by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society. Methods: Online databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Google Scholar), related references from papers and websites and personal files were searched for information on comprehensive or global rating scales which assessed sleep disturbances in the following movement disorders: akathisia, chorea, dystonia, essential tremor, myoclonus, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and tics and Tourette syndrome. For each rating scale, its objective and characteristics, as well as a summary of its psychometric properties and recommendations of use are described. Results: From 22 rating scales identified for the selected movement disorders, only 5 included specific questions on sleep problems. Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating scale (MDS-UPDRS), Non-Motor Symptoms Scale and Questionnaire (NMSS and NMSQuest), Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease (SCOPA)-Autonomic and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Rating Scale (PSPRS) were the only rating scales that included items for assessing sleep disturbances. Conclusions: Despite sleep problems are frequent in movement disorders, very few of the rating scales addresses these specific symptoms. This may contribute to an infra diagnosis and mistreatment of the sleep problems in patients with movement disorders.

  10. A learning scheme for reach to grasp movements: on EMG-based interfaces using task specific motion decoding models.

    PubMed

    Liarokapis, Minas V; Artemiadis, Panagiotis K; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas J; Manolakos, Elias S

    2013-09-01

    A learning scheme based on random forests is used to discriminate between different reach to grasp movements in 3-D space, based on the myoelectric activity of human muscles of the upper-arm and the forearm. Task specificity for motion decoding is introduced in two different levels: Subspace to move toward and object to be grasped. The discrimination between the different reach to grasp strategies is accomplished with machine learning techniques for classification. The classification decision is then used in order to trigger an EMG-based task-specific motion decoding model. Task specific models manage to outperform "general" models providing better estimation accuracy. Thus, the proposed scheme takes advantage of a framework incorporating both a classifier and a regressor that cooperate advantageously in order to split the task space. The proposed learning scheme can be easily used to a series of EMG-based interfaces that must operate in real time, providing data-driven capabilities for multiclass problems, that occur in everyday life complex environments.

  11. Functional Movement Disorder

    MedlinePlus

    ... or stress-related movement disorders). A number of biological and psychosocial factors may act together to bring ... or stress-related movement disorders). A number of biological and psychosocial factors may act together to bring ...

  12. Disorders of Upper Limb Movements in Ataxia-Telangiectasia.

    PubMed

    Shaikh, Aasef G; Zee, David S; Mandir, Allen S; Lederman, Howard M; Crawford, Thomas O

    2013-01-01

    Ataxia-telangiectasia is known for cerebellar degeneration, but clinical descriptions of abnormal tone, posture, and movements suggest involvement of the network between cerebellum and basal ganglia. We quantitatively assessed the nature of upper-limb movement disorders in ataxia-telangiectasia. We used a three-axis accelerometer to assess the natural history and severity of abnormal upper-limb movements in 80 ataxia-telangiectasia and 19 healthy subjects. Recordings were made during goal-directed movements of upper limb (kinetic task), while arms were outstretched (postural task), and at rest. Almost all ataxia-telangiectasia subjects (79/80) had abnormal involuntary movements, such as rhythmic oscillations (tremor), slow drifts (dystonia or athetosis), and isolated rapid movements (dystonic jerks or myoclonus). All patients with involuntary movements had both kinetic and postural tremor, while 48 (61%) also had resting tremor. The tremor was present in transient episodes lasting several seconds during two-minute recording sessions of all three conditions. Percent time during which episodic tremor was present was greater for postural and kinetic tasks compared to rest. Resting tremor had higher frequency but smaller amplitude than postural and kinetic tremor. Rapid non-rhythmic movements were minimal during rest, but were triggered during sustained arm postures and goal directed arm movements suggesting they are best considered a form of dystonic jerks or action myoclonus. Advancing age did not correlate with the severity of involuntary limb movements. Abnormal upper-limb movements in ataxia-telangiectasia feature classic cerebellar impairment, but also suggest involvement of the network between the cerebellum and basal ganglia.

  13. Disorders of Upper Limb Movements in Ataxia-Telangiectasia

    PubMed Central

    Shaikh, Aasef G.; Zee, David S.; Mandir, Allen S.; Lederman, Howard M.; Crawford, Thomas O.

    2013-01-01

    Ataxia-telangiectasia is known for cerebellar degeneration, but clinical descriptions of abnormal tone, posture, and movements suggest involvement of the network between cerebellum and basal ganglia. We quantitatively assessed the nature of upper-limb movement disorders in ataxia-telangiectasia. We used a three-axis accelerometer to assess the natural history and severity of abnormal upper-limb movements in 80 ataxia-telangiectasia and 19 healthy subjects. Recordings were made during goal-directed movements of upper limb (kinetic task), while arms were outstretched (postural task), and at rest. Almost all ataxia-telangiectasia subjects (79/80) had abnormal involuntary movements, such as rhythmic oscillations (tremor), slow drifts (dystonia or athetosis), and isolated rapid movements (dystonic jerks or myoclonus). All patients with involuntary movements had both kinetic and postural tremor, while 48 (61%) also had resting tremor. The tremor was present in transient episodes lasting several seconds during two-minute recording sessions of all three conditions. Percent time during which episodic tremor was present was greater for postural and kinetic tasks compared to rest. Resting tremor had higher frequency but smaller amplitude than postural and kinetic tremor. Rapid non-rhythmic movements were minimal during rest, but were triggered during sustained arm postures and goal directed arm movements suggesting they are best considered a form of dystonic jerks or action myoclonus. Advancing age did not correlate with the severity of involuntary limb movements. Abnormal upper-limb movements in ataxia-telangiectasia feature classic cerebellar impairment, but also suggest involvement of the network between the cerebellum and basal ganglia. PMID:23826191

  14. Oscillations in sensorimotor cortex in movement disorders: an electrocorticography study.

    PubMed

    Crowell, Andrea L; Ryapolova-Webb, Elena S; Ostrem, Jill L; Galifianakis, Nicholas B; Shimamoto, Shoichi; Lim, Daniel A; Starr, Philip A

    2012-02-01

    Movement disorders of basal ganglia origin may arise from abnormalities in synchronized oscillatory activity in a network that includes the basal ganglia, thalamus and motor cortices. In humans, much has been learned from the study of basal ganglia local field potentials recorded from temporarily externalized deep brain stimulator electrodes. These studies have led to the theory that Parkinson's disease has characteristic alterations in the beta frequency band (13-30 Hz) in the basal ganglia-thalamocortical network. However, different disorders have rarely been compared using recordings in the same structure under the same behavioural conditions, limiting straightforward assessment of current hypotheses. To address this, we utilized subdural electrocorticography to study cortical oscillations in the three most common movement disorders: Parkinson's disease, primary dystonia and essential tremor. We recorded local field potentials from the arm area of primary motor and sensory cortices in 31 subjects using strip electrodes placed temporarily during routine surgery for deep brain stimulator placement. We show that: (i) primary motor cortex broadband gamma power is increased in Parkinson's disease compared with the other conditions, both at rest and during a movement task; (ii) primary motor cortex high beta (20-30 Hz) power is increased in Parkinson's disease during the 'stop' phase of a movement task; (iii) the alpha-beta peaks in the motor and sensory cortical power spectra occur at higher frequencies in Parkinson's disease than in the other two disorders; and (iv) patients with dystonia have impaired movement-related beta band desynchronization in primary motor and sensory cortices. The findings support the emerging hypothesis that disease states reflect abnormalities in synchronized oscillatory activity. This is the first study of sensorimotor cortex local field potentials in the three most common movement disorders.

  15. A specific deficit of imitation in autism spectrum disorder.

    PubMed

    Stewart, Hannah J; McIntosh, Rob D; Williams, Justin H G

    2013-12-01

    Imitation is a potentially crucial aspect of social cognitive development. Although deficits in imitation ability have been widely demonstrated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the specificity and significance of the findings is unclear, due largely to methodological limitations. We developed a novel assessment of imitation ability, using objective movement parameters (path length and action duration) derived from a touch-sensitive tablet laptop during drawing actions on an identical tablet. By direct comparison of the kinematics of a model's actions with those of the participant who observed them, measures of imitation accuracy were obtained. By replaying the end-point of the movement as a spot on the screen, imitation accuracy was compared against a "ghost control" condition, with no human actor but only the end-point of the movement seen [object movement reenactment (OMR)]. Hence, demands of the control task were closely matched to the experimental task with respect to motor, memory, and attentional abilities. Adolescents with ASD showed poorer accuracy for copying object size and action duration on both the imitation and OMR tasks, but were significantly more impaired for imitation of object size. Our results provide evidence that some of the imitation deficit in ASD is specific to a self-other mapping problem, and cannot be explained by general factors such as memory, spatial reasoning, motor control, or attention, nor related to the social demands of the testing situation. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Stereotypy and Motor Control: Differences in the Postural Stability Dynamics of Persons with Stereotyped and Dyskinetic Movement Disorders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bodfish, James W.; Parker, Dawn E.; Lewis, Mark H.; Sprague, Robert L.; Newell, Karl M.

    2001-01-01

    This study examined whether dynamic measures of postural stability differentiated stereotyped movement disorder from dyskinetic movement disorder in a severely mentally retarded population. Participants (N=20) with either stereotypy or dyskinesia movement disorders and a control group were given a goal-oriented postural stability task. Both groups…

  17. Clinical features of movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Yung, C Y

    1983-08-01

    The descriptive aspects of all types of movement disorders and their related syndromes and terminologies used in the literature are reviewed and described. This comprises the features of (a) movement disorders secondary to neurological diseases affecting the extrapyramidal motor system, such as: athetosis, chorea, dystonia, hemiballismus, myoclonus, tremor, tics and spasm, (b) drug induced movement disorders, such as: akathisia, akinesia, hyperkinesia, dyskinesias, extrapyramidal syndrome, and tardive dyskinesia, and (c) abnormal movements in psychiatric disorders, such as: mannerism, stereotyped behaviour and psychomotor retardation. It is intended to bring about a more comprehensive overview of these movement disorders from a phenomenological perspective, so that clinicians can familiarize with these features for diagnosis. Some general statements are made in regard to some of the characteristics of movement disorders.

  18. Sonographic alteration of lenticular nucleus in focal task-specific dystonia of musicians.

    PubMed

    Walter, Uwe; Buttkus, Franziska; Benecke, Reiner; Grossmann, Annette; Dressler, Dirk; Altenmüller, Eckart

    2012-01-01

    In distinct movement disorders, transcranial sonography detects alterations of deep brain structures with higher sensitivity than other neuroimaging methods. Lenticular nucleus hyperechogenicity on transcranial sonography, thought to be caused by increased local copper content, has been reported as a characteristic finding in primary spontaneous dystonia. Here, we wanted to find out whether deep brain structures are altered in task-specific dystonia. The frequency of sonographic brainstem and basal ganglia changes was studied in an investigator-blinded setting in 15 musicians with focal task-specific hand dystonia, 15 musicians without dystonia, and 15 age- and sex-matched nonmusicians without dystonia. Lenticular nucleus hyperechogenicity was found in 12 musicians with task-specific dystonia, but only in 3 nondystonic musicians (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.001) and 2 nonmusicians (p < 0.001). The degree of lenticular nucleus hyperechogenicity in affected musicians correlated with age, but not with duration of music practice or duration of dystonia. In 2 of 3 affected musicians with normal echogenic lenticular nucleus, substantia nigra hyperechogenicity was found. Our findings support the idea of a pathogenetic link between primary spontaneous and task-specific dystonia. Sonographic basal ganglia alteration might indicate a risk factor that in combination with extensive fine motor training promotes the manifestation of task-specific dystonia. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  19. Movement disorder symptoms associated with Unified ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Objectives: The UPDRS is a commonly used neurological measurement to assess the presence and severity of parkinsonian symptoms. It has also been used to assess symptoms associated with Mn exposure. Objectives: to determine 1) if movement disorder symptoms were associated with UPDRS: Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Motor abnormalities; and 2) which symptoms were most related to increased abnormalities on these UPDRS subscales. Participants & Methods: Correlations between self-reported movement disorder symptoms from a health questionnaire and scores obtained on UPDRS: ADL and Motor subscales, and the Bradykinesia domain of the Motor subscale, were assessed during a medical examination among 185 Mn-exposed participants from two Ohio towns. Partial correlations were used for statistical analyses, controlling for age, sex, education and a history of musculoskeletal disease.Results: The presence of movement disorder symptoms was positively associated with ADL (pr =0.647, p = <0.001), Motor (pr =0.449, p = <0.001), and Bradykinesia (pr =0.418, p = <0.001) domains on the UPDRS. Specific movement disorder symptoms most strongly associated with increased ADL and Motor scores included having difficulty getting out of chairs (pr =0.458, p = <0.001), writing (pr =0.481, p = <0.001), skilled movements (pr =0.478, p = <0.001), loss of coordination/balance (pr =0.457, p = <0.001), changes in walking (pr =0.412, p = <0.001) and slowness of movement (pr =0.539, p = <0.0

  20. New Uses for Sensitivity Analysis: How Different Movement Tasks Effect Limb Model Parameter Sensitivity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Winters, J. M.; Stark, L.

    1984-01-01

    Original results for a newly developed eight-order nonlinear limb antagonistic muscle model of elbow flexion and extension are presented. A wider variety of sensitivity analysis techniques are used and a systematic protocol is established that shows how the different methods can be used efficiently to complement one another for maximum insight into model sensitivity. It is explicitly shown how the sensitivity of output behaviors to model parameters is a function of the controller input sequence, i.e., of the movement task. When the task is changed (for instance, from an input sequence that results in the usual fast movement task to a slower movement that may also involve external loading, etc.) the set of parameters with high sensitivity will in general also change. Such task-specific use of sensitivity analysis techniques identifies the set of parameters most important for a given task, and even suggests task-specific model reduction possibilities.

  1. Influence of dual-task constraints on the interaction between posture and movement during a lower limb pointing task.

    PubMed

    Silva, Marcelo Guimarães; Struber, Lucas; Brandão, José Geraldo T; Daniel, Olivier; Nougier, Vincent

    2018-04-01

    One of the challenges regarding human motor control is making the movement fluid and at a limited cognitive cost. The coordination between posture and movement is a necessary requirement to perform daily life tasks. The present experiment investigated this interaction in 20 adult men, aged 18-30 years. The cognitive costs associated to postural and movement control when kicking towards a target was estimated using a dual-task paradigm (secondary auditory task). Results showed that addition of the attentional demanding cognitive task yielded a decreased kicking accuracy and an increased timing to perform the movement, mainly during the backswing motion. In addition, significant differences between conditions were found for COP and COM displacement (increased amplitude, mean speed) on the anteroposterior axis. However, no significant differences between conditions were found on the mediolateral axis. Finally, EMG analysis showed that dual-task condition modified the way anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) were generated. More specifically, we observed an increase of the peroneus longus activity, whereas the temporal EMG showed a decrease of its latency with respect to movement onset. These results suggested a functional adaptation resulting in an invariance of overall APAs, emphasizing that cognitive, postural, and motor processes worked dependently.

  2. Task specific grip force control in writer's cramp.

    PubMed

    Schneider, A S; Fürholzer, W; Marquardt, C; Hermsdörfer, J

    2014-04-01

    Writer's cramp is defined as a task specific focal dystonia generating hypertonic muscle co-contractions during handwriting resulting in impaired writing performance and exaggerated finger force. However, little is known about the generalisation of grip force across tasks others than writing. The aim of the study was to directly compare regulation of grip forces during handwriting with force regulation in other fine-motor tasks in patients and control subjects. Handwriting, lifting and cyclic movements of a grasped object were investigated in 21 patients and 14 controls. The applied forces were registered in all three tasks and compared between groups and tasks. In addition, task-specific measures of fine-motor skill were assessed. As expected, patients generated exaggerated forces during handwriting compared to control subjects. However there were no statistically significant group differences during lifting and cyclic movements. The control group revealed a generalisation of grip forces across manual tasks whereas in patients there was no such correlation. We conclude that increased finger forces during handwriting are a task-specific phenomenon that does not necessarily generalise to other fine-motor tasks. Force control of patients with writer's cramp in handwriting and other fine-motor tasks is characterised by individualised control strategies. Copyright © 2013 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Psychostimulants and Movement Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Asser, Andres; Taba, Pille

    2015-01-01

    Psychostimulants are a diverse group of substances with their main psychomotor effects resembling those of amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, or cathinone. Due to their potential as drugs of abuse, recreational use of most of these substances is illegal since 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. In recent years, new psychoactive substances have emerged mainly as synthetic cathinones with new molecules frequently complementing the list. Psychostimulant related movement disorders are a known entity often seen in emergency rooms around the world. These admissions are becoming more frequent as are fatalities associated with drug abuse. Still the legal constraints of the novel synthetic molecules are bypassed. At the same time, chronic and permanent movement disorders are much less frequently encountered. These disorders frequently manifest as a combination of movement disorders. The more common symptoms include agitation, tremor, hyperkinetic and stereotypical movements, cognitive impairment, and also hyperthermia and cardiovascular dysfunction. The pathophysiological mechanisms behind the clinical manifestations have been researched for decades. The common denominator is the monoaminergic signaling. Dopamine has received the most attention but further research has demonstrated involvement of other pathways. Common mechanisms linking psychostimulant use and several movement disorders exist. PMID:25941511

  4. Psychostimulants and movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Asser, Andres; Taba, Pille

    2015-01-01

    Psychostimulants are a diverse group of substances with their main psychomotor effects resembling those of amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, or cathinone. Due to their potential as drugs of abuse, recreational use of most of these substances is illegal since 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. In recent years, new psychoactive substances have emerged mainly as synthetic cathinones with new molecules frequently complementing the list. Psychostimulant related movement disorders are a known entity often seen in emergency rooms around the world. These admissions are becoming more frequent as are fatalities associated with drug abuse. Still the legal constraints of the novel synthetic molecules are bypassed. At the same time, chronic and permanent movement disorders are much less frequently encountered. These disorders frequently manifest as a combination of movement disorders. The more common symptoms include agitation, tremor, hyperkinetic and stereotypical movements, cognitive impairment, and also hyperthermia and cardiovascular dysfunction. The pathophysiological mechanisms behind the clinical manifestations have been researched for decades. The common denominator is the monoaminergic signaling. Dopamine has received the most attention but further research has demonstrated involvement of other pathways. Common mechanisms linking psychostimulant use and several movement disorders exist.

  5. Foot loading characteristics during three fencing-specific movements.

    PubMed

    Trautmann, Caroline; Martinelli, Nicolo; Rosenbaum, Dieter

    2011-12-01

    Plantar pressure characteristics during fencing movements may provide more specific information about the influence of foot loading on overload injury patterns. Twenty-nine experienced fencers participated in the study. Three fencing-specific movements (lunge, advance, retreat) and normal running were performed with three different shoe models: Ballestra (Nike, USA), Adistar Fencing Lo (Adidas, Germany), and the fencers' own shoes. The Pedar system (Novel, Munich, Germany) was used to collect plantar pressures at 50 Hz. Peak pressures, force-time integrals and contact times for five foot regions were compared between four athletic tasks in the lunge leg and supporting leg. Plantar pressure analysis revealed characteristic pressure distribution patterns for the fencing movements. For the lunge leg, during the lunge and advance movements the heel is predominantly loaded; during retreat, it is the hallux. For the supporting leg, during the lunge and advance movements the forefoot is predominantly loaded; during retreat, it is the hallux. Fencing-specific movements load the plantar surface in a distinct way compared with running. An effective cushioning in the heel and hallux region would help to minimize foot loading during fencing-specific movements.

  6. Effects of practice schedule and task specificity on the adaptive process of motor learning.

    PubMed

    Barros, João Augusto de Camargo; Tani, Go; Corrêa, Umberto Cesar

    2017-10-01

    This study investigated the effects of practice schedule and task specificity based on the perspective of adaptive process of motor learning. For this purpose, tasks with temporal and force control learning requirements were manipulated in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Specifically, the task consisted of touching with the dominant hand the three sequential targets with specific movement time or force for each touch. Participants were children (N=120), both boys and girls, with an average age of 11.2years (SD=1.0). The design in both experiments involved four practice groups (constant, random, constant-random, and random-constant) and two phases (stabilisation and adaptation). The dependent variables included measures related to the task goal (accuracy and variability of error of the overall movement and force patterns) and movement pattern (macro- and microstructures). Results revealed a similar error of the overall patterns for all groups in both experiments and that they adapted themselves differently in terms of the macro- and microstructures of movement patterns. The study concludes that the effects of practice schedules on the adaptive process of motor learning were both general and specific to the task. That is, they were general to the task goal performance and specific regarding the movement pattern. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Task-specific stability in muscle activation space during unintentional movements.

    PubMed

    Falaki, Ali; Towhidkhah, Farzad; Zhou, Tao; Latash, Mark L

    2014-11-01

    We used robot-generated perturbations applied during position-holding tasks to explore stability of induced unintentional movements in a multidimensional space of muscle activations. Healthy subjects held the handle of a robot against a constant bias force and were instructed not to interfere with hand movements produced by changes in the external force. Transient force changes were applied leading to handle displacement away from the initial position and then back toward the initial position. Intertrial variance in the space of muscle modes (eigenvectors in the muscle activations space) was quantified within two subspaces, corresponding to unchanged handle coordinate and to changes in the handle coordinate. Most variance was confined to the former subspace in each of the three phases of movement, the initial steady state, the intermediate position, and the final steady state. The same result was found when the changes in muscle activation were analyzed between the initial and final steady states. Changes in the dwell time between the perturbation force application and removal led to different final hand locations undershooting the initial position. The magnitude of the undershot scaled with the dwell time, while the structure of variance in the muscle activation space did not depend on the dwell time. We conclude that stability of the hand coordinate is ensured during both intentional and unintentional actions via similar mechanisms. Relative equifinality in the external space after transient perturbations may be associated with varying states in the redundant space of muscle activations. The results fit a hierarchical scheme for the control of voluntary movements with referent configurations and redundant mapping between the levels of the hierarchy.

  8. Kinematic parameters of hand movement during a disparate bimanual movement task in children with unilateral Cerebral Palsy.

    PubMed

    Rudisch, Julian; Butler, Jenny; Izadi, Hooshang; Zielinski, Ingar Marie; Aarts, Pauline; Birtles, Deirdre; Green, Dido

    2016-04-01

    Children with unilateral Cerebral Palsy (uCP) experience problems performing tasks requiring the coordinated use of both hands (bimanual coordination; BC). Additionally, some children with uCP display involuntary symmetrical activation of the opposing hand (mirrored movements). Measures, used to investigate therapy-related improvements focus on the functionality of the affected hand during unimanual or bimanual tasks. None however specifically address spatiotemporal integration of both hands. We explored the kinematics of hand movements during a bimanual task to identify parameters of BC. Thirty-seven children (aged 10.9±2.6years, 20 male) diagnosed with uCP participated. 3D kinematic motion analysis was performed during the task requiring opening of a box with their affected- (AH) or less-affected hand (LAH), and pressing a button inside with the opposite hand. Temporal and spatial components of data were extracted and related to measures of hand function and level of impairment. Total task duration was correlated with the Jebsen-Taylor Test of Hand Function in both conditions (either hand leading with the lid-opening). Spatial accuracy of the LAH when the box was opened with their AH was correlated with outcomes on the Children's Hand Use Experience Questionnaire. Additionally, we found a subgroup of children displaying non-symmetrical movement interference associated with greater movement overlap when their affected hand opened the box. This subgroup also demonstrated decreased use of the affected hand during bimanual tasks. Further investigation of bimanual interference, which goes beyond small scaled symmetrical mirrored movements, is needed to consider its impact on bimanual task performance following early unilateral brain injury. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Impact of elicited mood on movement expressivity during a fitness task.

    PubMed

    Giraud, Tom; Focone, Florian; Isableu, Brice; Martin, Jean-Claude; Demulier, Virginie

    2016-10-01

    The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of four mood conditions (control, positive, negative, aroused) on movement expressivity during a fitness task. Motion capture data from twenty individuals were recorded as they performed a predefined motion sequence. Moods were elicited using task-specific scenarii to keep a valid context. Movement qualities inspired by Effort-Shape framework (Laban & Ullmann, 1971) were computed (i.e., Impulsiveness, Energy, Directness, Jerkiness and Expansiveness). A reduced number of computed features from each movement quality was selected via Principal Component Analyses. Analyses of variance and Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to identify movement characteristics discriminating the four mood conditions. The aroused mood condition was strongly associated with increased mean Energy compared to the three other conditions. The positive and negative mood conditions showed more subtle differences interpreted as a result of their moderate activation level. Positive mood was associated with more impulsive movements and negative mood was associated with more tense movements (i.e., reduced variability and increased Jerkiness). Findings evidence the key role of movement qualities in capturing motion signatures of moods and highlight the importance of task context in their interpretations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Disrupted rapid eye movement sleep predicts poor declarative memory performance in post-traumatic stress disorder.

    PubMed

    Lipinska, Malgorzata; Timol, Ridwana; Kaminer, Debra; Thomas, Kevin G F

    2014-06-01

    Successful memory consolidation during sleep depends on healthy slow-wave and rapid eye movement sleep, and on successful transition across sleep stages. In post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep is disrupted and memory is impaired, but relations between these two variables in the psychiatric condition remain unexplored. We examined whether disrupted sleep, and consequent disrupted memory consolidation, is a mechanism underlying declarative memory deficits in post-traumatic stress disorder. We recruited three matched groups of participants: post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 16); trauma-exposed non-post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 15); and healthy control (n = 14). They completed memory tasks before and after 8 h of sleep. We measured sleep variables using sleep-adapted electroencephalography. Post-traumatic stress disorder-diagnosed participants experienced significantly less sleep efficiency and rapid eye movement sleep percentage, and experienced more awakenings and wake percentage in the second half of the night than did participants in the other two groups. After sleep, post-traumatic stress disorder-diagnosed participants retained significantly less information on a declarative memory task than controls. Rapid eye movement percentage, wake percentage and sleep efficiency correlated with retention of information over the night. Furthermore, lower rapid eye movement percentage predicted poorer retention in post-traumatic stress disorder-diagnosed individuals. Our results suggest that declarative memory consolidation is disrupted during sleep in post-traumatic stress disorder. These data are consistent with theories suggesting that sleep benefits memory consolidation via predictable neurobiological mechanisms, and that rapid eye movement disruption is more than a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. © 2014 European Sleep Research Society.

  11. Movement disorders in adult surviving patients with maple syrup urine disease.

    PubMed

    Carecchio, Miryam; Schneider, Susanne A; Chan, Heidi; Lachmann, Robin; Lee, Philip J; Murphy, Elaine; Bhatia, Kailash P

    2011-06-01

    Maple syrup urine disease is a rare metabolic disorder caused by mutations in the branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase complex gene. Patients generally present early in life with a toxic encephalopathy because of the accumulation of the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine and the corresponding ketoacids. Movement disorders in maple syrup urine disease have typically been described during decompensation episodes or at presentation in the context of a toxic encephalopathy, with complete resolution after appropriate dietary treatment. Movement disorders in patients surviving childhood are not well documented. We assessed 17 adult patients with maple syrup urine disease (mean age, 27.5 years) with a special focus on movement disorders. Twelve (70.6%) had a movement disorder on clinical examination, mainly tremor and dystonia or a combination of both. Parkinsonism and simple motor tics were also observed. Pyramidal signs were present in 11 patients (64.7%), and a spastic-dystonic gait was observed in 6 patients (35.2%). In summary, movement disorders are common in treated adult patients with maple syrup urine disease, and careful neurological examination is advisable to identify those who may benefit from specific therapy. © 2011 Movement Disorder Society. Copyright © 2011 Movement Disorder Society.

  12. An assessment of Movement Disorder Society Task Force diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Uysal-Cantürk, P; Hanağası, H A; Bilgiç, B; Gürvit, H; Emre, M

    2018-01-01

    Cognitive impairment is one of the most disabling non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Mild cognitive impairment constitutes a major risk for the development of Parkinson's disease dementia in the course of the disease. A Movement Disorder Society Task Force proposed diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD-MCI), comprising two operational levels: Level I and Level II. The objective of our study was to test the accuracy of Level I versus Level II diagnostic criteria. Eighty-six consecutive patients with Parkinson's disease were screened and 68 patients without dementia or depression were included in the study. We used the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Mini-Mental State Examination and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Evaluation-R screening tools for Level I and an extensive neuropsychological battery for Level II assessment. We first diagnosed PD-MCI on the basis of Level II assessment and then calculated sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver-operator characteristics curve, comparing the performance of the three screening batteries. None of the three screening batteries proposed for Level I assessment provided satisfactory combined sensitivity and specificity for detecting PD-MCI, and their performance was similar. Using the Level II criteria, 29 patients (43%) were diagnosed as having PD-MCI. Lowest cut-off levels that provided at least 80% sensitivity were 24 for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 29 for the Mini-Mental State Examination and 87 for the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Evaluation-R. However, specificity levels were below 80% at these cut-off levels. We conclude that Level I assessment alone using screening batteries is not sufficiently sensitive/specific to detect PD-MCI. © 2017 EAN.

  13. Unexpected acoustic stimulation during action preparation reveals gradual re-specification of movement direction.

    PubMed

    Marinovic, Welber; Tresilian, James; Chapple, Jack L; Riek, Stephan; Carroll, Timothy J

    2017-04-21

    A loud acoustic stimulus (LAS) is often used as a tool to investigate motor preparation in simple reaction time (RT) tasks, where all movement parameters are known in advance. In this report, we used a LAS to examine direction specification in simple and choice RT tasks. This allowed us to investigate how the specification of movement direction unfolds during the preparation period. In two experiments, participants responded to the appearance of an imperative stimulus (IS) with a ballistic wrist force directed toward one of two targets. In probe trials, a LAS (120dBa) was delivered around the time of IS presentation. In Experiment 1, RTs in the simple RT task were faster when the LAS was presented, but the effect on the movement kinematics was negligible. In the Choice RT task, however, movement direction variability increased when the LAS was presented. In Experiment 2, when we primed movements toward one direction, our analyses revealed that the longer participants took to start a movement, the more accurate their responses became. Our results show not only that movement direction reprogramming occurs quickly and continuously, but also that LAS can be a valuable tool to obtain meaningful readouts of the motor system's preparatory state. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Hypnosis and movement disorders: State of the art and perspectives.

    PubMed

    Flamand-Roze, C; Célestin-Lhopiteau, I; Roze, E

    Hypnosis might represent an interesting complementary therapeutic approach to movement disorders, as it takes into account not only symptoms, but also well-being, and empowers patients to take a more active role in their treatment. Our review of the literature on the use of hypnosis to treat movement disorders was done by systematically searching the PubMed database for reports published between 1984 and November 2015. The following variables were extracted from each selected paper: study design; sample size; type of movement disorder; hypnotic procedure; treatment duration; and efficacy. Thirteen papers were selected for detailed analysis. Most concerned tremor in Parkinson's disease and tics in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Although promising, the data were insufficient to allow conclusions to be drawn on the efficacy of hypnosis in movement disorders or to recommend its use in this setting. Well-designed studies taking into account some specific methodological challenges are needed to determine the possible therapeutic utility of hypnosis in movement disorders. In addition to the potential benefits for such patients, hypnosis might also be useful for studying the neuroanatomical and functional underpinnings of normal and abnormal movements. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  15. Post-Thalamic Stroke Movement Disorders: A Systematic Review.

    PubMed

    Gupta, Navnika; Pandey, Sanjay

    2018-06-05

    After a stroke, movement disorders are rare manifestations mainly affecting the deep structures of the brain like the basal ganglia (44%) and thalamus (37%), although there have been case studies of movement disorders in strokes affecting the cerebral cortex also. This review aims to delineate the various movement disorders seen in association with thalamic strokes and tries to identify the location of the nuclei affected in each of the described movement disorders. Cases were identified through a search of PubMed database using different search terms related to post-thalamic stroke movement disorders and a secondary search of references of identified articles. We reviewed 2,520 research articles and only 86 papers met the inclusion criteria. Cases were included if they met criteria for post-thalamic stroke movement disorders. Case-cohort studies were also reviewed and will be discussed further. Key Messages: The most common post-stroke abnormal movement disorder reported in our review was dystonia followed by hemiataxia. There was a higher association between ischaemic stroke and movement disorder. Acute onset movement disorders were more common than delayed. The posterolateral thalamus was most commonly involved in post-thalamic stroke movement disorders. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. Research Priorities in Limb and Task-Specific Dystonias.

    PubMed

    Pirio Richardson, Sarah; Altenmüller, Eckart; Alter, Katharine; Alterman, Ron L; Chen, Robert; Frucht, Steven; Furuya, Shinichi; Jankovic, Joseph; Jinnah, H A; Kimberley, Teresa J; Lungu, Codrin; Perlmutter, Joel S; Prudente, Cecília N; Hallett, Mark

    2017-01-01

    Dystonia, which causes intermittent or sustained abnormal postures and movements, can present in a focal or a generalized manner. In the limbs, focal dystonia can occur in either the upper or lower limbs and may be task-specific causing abnormal motor performance for only a specific task, such as in writer's cramp, runner's dystonia, or musician's dystonia. Focal limb dystonia can be non-task-specific and may, in some circumstances, be associated with parkinsonian disorders. The true prevalence of focal limb dystonia is not known and is likely currently underestimated, leaving a knowledge gap and an opportunity for future research. The pathophysiology of focal limb dystonia shares some commonalities with other dystonias with a loss of inhibition in the central nervous system and a loss of the normal regulation of plasticity, called homeostatic plasticity. Functional imaging studies revealed abnormalities in several anatomical networks that involve the cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. Further studies should focus on distinguishing cause from effect in both physiology and imaging studies to permit focus on most relevant biological correlates of dystonia. There is no specific therapy for the treatment of limb dystonia given the variability in presentation, but off-label botulinum toxin therapy is often applied to focal limb and task-specific dystonia. Various rehabilitation techniques have been applied and rehabilitation interventions may improve outcomes, but small sample size and lack of direct comparisons between methods to evaluate comparative efficacy limit conclusions. Finally, non-invasive and invasive therapeutic modalities have been explored in small studies with design limitations that do not yet clearly provide direction for larger clinical trials that could support new clinical therapies. Given these gaps in our clinical, pathophysiologic, and therapeutic knowledge, we have identified priorities for future research including: the development of

  17. Research Priorities in Limb and Task-Specific Dystonias

    PubMed Central

    Pirio Richardson, Sarah; Altenmüller, Eckart; Alter, Katharine; Alterman, Ron L.; Chen, Robert; Frucht, Steven; Furuya, Shinichi; Jankovic, Joseph; Jinnah, H. A.; Kimberley, Teresa J.; Lungu, Codrin; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Prudente, Cecília N.; Hallett, Mark

    2017-01-01

    Dystonia, which causes intermittent or sustained abnormal postures and movements, can present in a focal or a generalized manner. In the limbs, focal dystonia can occur in either the upper or lower limbs and may be task-specific causing abnormal motor performance for only a specific task, such as in writer’s cramp, runner’s dystonia, or musician’s dystonia. Focal limb dystonia can be non-task-specific and may, in some circumstances, be associated with parkinsonian disorders. The true prevalence of focal limb dystonia is not known and is likely currently underestimated, leaving a knowledge gap and an opportunity for future research. The pathophysiology of focal limb dystonia shares some commonalities with other dystonias with a loss of inhibition in the central nervous system and a loss of the normal regulation of plasticity, called homeostatic plasticity. Functional imaging studies revealed abnormalities in several anatomical networks that involve the cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. Further studies should focus on distinguishing cause from effect in both physiology and imaging studies to permit focus on most relevant biological correlates of dystonia. There is no specific therapy for the treatment of limb dystonia given the variability in presentation, but off-label botulinum toxin therapy is often applied to focal limb and task-specific dystonia. Various rehabilitation techniques have been applied and rehabilitation interventions may improve outcomes, but small sample size and lack of direct comparisons between methods to evaluate comparative efficacy limit conclusions. Finally, non-invasive and invasive therapeutic modalities have been explored in small studies with design limitations that do not yet clearly provide direction for larger clinical trials that could support new clinical therapies. Given these gaps in our clinical, pathophysiologic, and therapeutic knowledge, we have identified priorities for future research including: the development of

  18. Learning a stick-balancing task involves task-specific coupling between posture and hand displacements.

    PubMed

    Cluff, Tyler; Boulet, Jason; Balasubramaniam, Ramesh

    2011-08-01

    Theories of motor learning argue that the acquisition of novel motor skills requires a task-specific organization of sensory and motor subsystems. We examined task-specific coupling between motor subsystems as subjects learned a novel stick-balancing task. We focused on learning-induced changes in finger movements and body sway and investigated the effect of practice on their coupling. Eight subjects practiced balancing a cylindrical wooden stick for 30 min a day during a 20 day learning period. Finger movements and center of pressure trajectories were recorded in every fifth practice session (4 in total) using a ten camera VICON motion capture system interfaced with two force platforms. Motor learning was quantified using average balancing trial lengths, which increased with practice and confirmed that subjects learned the task. Nonlinear time series and phase space reconstruction methods were subsequently used to investigate changes in the spatiotemporal properties of finger movements, body sway and their progressive coupling. Systematic increases in subsystem coupling were observed despite reduced autocorrelation and differences in the temporal properties of center of pressure and finger trajectories. The average duration of these coupled trajectories increased systematically across the learning period. In short, the abrupt transition between coupled and decoupled subsystem dynamics suggested that stick balancing is regulated by a hierarchical control mechanism that switches from collective to independent control of the finger and center of pressure. In addition to traditional measures of motor performance, dynamical analyses revealed changes in motor subsystem organization that occurred when subjects learned a novel stick-balancing task.

  19. Developmental and benign movement disorders in childhood.

    PubMed

    Bonnet, Cecilia; Roubertie, Agathe; Doummar, Diane; Bahi-Buisson, Nadia; Cochen de Cock, Valérie; Roze, Emmanuel

    2010-07-30

    Developmental and benign movement disorders are a group of movement disorders with onset in the neonatal period, infancy, or childhood. They are characterized by the absence of associated neurological manifestations and by their favorable outcome, although developmental abnormalities can be occasionally observed. Knowledge of the clinical, neurophysiological, and pathogenetic aspects of these disorders is poor. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature and our practical experience, this article summarizes current knowledge in this area. We pay special attention to the recognition and management of these movement disorders in children. (c) 2010 Movement Disorder Society.

  20. Classification of visual and linguistic tasks using eye-movement features.

    PubMed

    Coco, Moreno I; Keller, Frank

    2014-03-07

    The role of the task has received special attention in visual-cognition research because it can provide causal explanations of goal-directed eye-movement responses. The dependency between visual attention and task suggests that eye movements can be used to classify the task being performed. A recent study by Greene, Liu, and Wolfe (2012), however, fails to achieve accurate classification of visual tasks based on eye-movement features. In the present study, we hypothesize that tasks can be successfully classified when they differ with respect to the involvement of other cognitive domains, such as language processing. We extract the eye-movement features used by Greene et al. as well as additional features from the data of three different tasks: visual search, object naming, and scene description. First, we demonstrated that eye-movement responses make it possible to characterize the goals of these tasks. Then, we trained three different types of classifiers and predicted the task participants performed with an accuracy well above chance (a maximum of 88% for visual search). An analysis of the relative importance of features for classification accuracy reveals that just one feature, i.e., initiation time, is sufficient for above-chance performance (a maximum of 79% accuracy in object naming). Crucially, this feature is independent of task duration, which differs systematically across the three tasks we investigated. Overall, the best task classification performance was obtained with a set of seven features that included both spatial information (e.g., entropy of attention allocation) and temporal components (e.g., total fixation on objects) of the eye-movement record. This result confirms the task-dependent allocation of visual attention and extends previous work by showing that task classification is possible when tasks differ in the cognitive processes involved (purely visual tasks such as search vs. communicative tasks such as scene description).

  1. Advances in surgery for movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Rowland, Nathan C; Sammartino, Francesco; Lozano, Andres M

    2017-01-01

    Movement disorder surgery has evolved throughout history as our knowledge of motor circuits and ways in which to manipulate them have expanded. Today, the positive impact on patient quality of life for a growing number of movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease is now well accepted and confirmed through several decades of randomized, controlled trials. Nevertheless, residual motor symptoms after movement disorder surgery such as deep brain stimulation and lack of a definitive cure for these conditions demand that advances continue to push the boundaries of the field and maximize its therapeutic potential. Similarly, advances in related fields - wireless technology, artificial intelligence, stem cell and gene therapy, neuroimaging, nanoscience, and minimally invasive surgery - mean that movement disorder surgery stands at a crossroads to benefit from unique combinations of all these developments. In this minireview, we outline some of these developments as well as evidence supporting topics of recent discussion and controversy in our field. Moving forward, expectations remain high that these improvements will come to encompass an even broader range of patients who might benefit from this therapy and decrease the burden of disease associated with these conditions. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

  2. Movement disorders with neuronal antibodies: syndromic approach, genetic parallels and pathophysiology

    PubMed Central

    Balint, Bettina; Vincent, Angela; Meinck, Hans-Michael; Irani, Sarosh R; Bhatia, Kailash P

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Movement disorders are a prominent and common feature in many autoantibody-associated neurological diseases, a group of potentially treatable conditions that can mimic infectious, metabolic or neurodegenerative disease. Certain movement disorders are likely to associate with certain autoantibodies; for example, the characteristic dyskinesias, chorea and dystonia associated with NMDAR antibodies, stiff person spectrum disorders with GAD, glycine receptor, amphiphysin or DPPX antibodies, specific paroxysmal dystonias with LGI1 antibodies, and cerebellar ataxia with various anti-neuronal antibodies. There are also less-recognized movement disorder presentations of antibody-related disease, and a considerable overlap between the clinical phenotypes and the associated antibody spectra. In this review, we first describe the antibodies associated with each syndrome, highlight distinctive clinical or radiological ‘red flags’, and suggest a syndromic approach based on the predominant movement disorder presentation, age, and associated features. We then examine the underlying immunopathophysiology, which may guide treatment decisions in these neuroimmunological disorders, and highlight the exceptional interface between neuronal antibodies and neurodegeneration, such as the tauopathy associated with IgLON5 antibodies. Moreover, we elaborate the emerging pathophysiological parallels between genetic movement disorders and immunological conditions, with proteins being either affected by mutations or targeted by autoantibodies. Hereditary hyperekplexia, for example, is caused by mutations of the alpha subunit of the glycine receptor leading to an infantile-onset disorder with exaggerated startle and stiffness, whereas antibodies targeting glycine receptors can induce acquired hyperekplexia. The spectrum of such immunological and genetic analogies also includes cerebellar ataxias and some encephalopathies. Lastly, we discuss how these pathophysiological considerations

  3. The Role of a Neuropsychologist on a Movement Disorders Deep Brain Stimulation Team.

    PubMed

    Kubu, Cynthia S

    2018-05-01

    The term movement disorders is misleading in the implication that the symptoms are limited to motor problems. Most movement disorders include a variety of neurobehavioral and neurocognitive symptoms that require neuropsychological expertise. The goal of this paper is to provide a rationale and practical roadmap for neuropsychologists' involvement in a Movement Disorders team with a specific focus on pre-operative deep brain stimulation (DBS) evaluations. Pragmatic recommendations regarding requisite skills, clinical practice, recommendations, communication, and benefits are outlined.

  4. Movement Disorders in Adult Surviving Patients with Maple Syrup Urine Disease

    PubMed Central

    Carecchio, Miryam; Schneider, Susanne A.; Chan, Heidi; Lachmann, Robin; Lee, Philip J.; Murphy, Elaine; Bhatia, Kailash P.

    2014-01-01

    Maple syrup urine disease is a rare metabolic disorder caused by mutations in the branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase complex gene. Patients generally present early in life with a toxic encephalopathy because of the accumulation of the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine and the corresponding ketoacids. Movement disorders in maple syrup urine disease have typically been described during decompensation episodes or at presentation in the context of a toxic encephalopathy, with complete resolution after appropriate dietary treatment. Movement disorders in patients surviving childhood are not well documented. We assessed 17 adult patients with maple syrup urine disease (mean age, 27.5 years) with a special focus on movement disorders. Twelve (70.6%) had a movement disorder on clinical examination, mainly tremor and dystonia or a combination of both. Parkinsonism and simple motor tics were also observed. Pyramidal signs were present in 11 patients (64.7%), and a spastic-dystonic gait was observed in 6 patients (35.2%). In summary, movement disorders are common in treated adult patients with maple syrup urine disease, and careful neurological examination is advisable to identify those who may benefit from specific therapy. PMID:21484869

  5. Movement disorders secondary to craniocerebral trauma.

    PubMed

    Krauss, Joachim K

    2015-01-01

    Over the past few decades it has been recognized that traumatic brain injury may result in various movement disorders. In survivors of severe head injury, post-traumatic movement disorders were reported in about 20%, and they persisted in about 10% of patients. The most frequent persisting movement disorder in this population is kinetic cerebellar outflow tremor in about 9%, followed by dystonia in about 4%. While tremor is associated most frequently with cerebellar or mesencephalic lesions, patients with dystonia frequently have basal ganglia or thalamic lesions. Moderate or mild traumatic brain injury only rarely causes persistent post-traumatic movement disorders. It appears that the frequency of post-traumatic movement disorders overall has been declining which most likely is secondary to improved treatment of brain injury. In patients with disabling post-traumatic movement disorders which are refractory to medical treatment, stereotactic neurosurgery can provide long-lasting benefit. While in the past the primary option for severe kinetic tremor was thalamotomy and for dystonia thalamotomy or pallidotomy, today deep brain stimulation has become the preferred treatment. Parkinsonism is a rare consequence of single head injury, but repeated head injury such as seen in boxing can result in chronic encephalopathy with parkinsonian features. While there is still controversy whether or not head injury is a risk factor for the development of Parkinson's disease, recent studies indicate that genetic susceptibility might be relevant. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Stereotyped movement disorder in ICD-11.

    PubMed

    Stein, Dan J; Woods, Douglas W

    2014-01-01

    According to current proposals for ICD-11, stereotyped movement disorder will be classified in the grouping of neurodevelopmental disorders, with a qualifier to indicate whether self-injury is present, similar to the classification of stereotypic movement disorder in DSM-5. At the same time, the WHO ICD-11 Working Group on the Classification of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders has proposed a grouping of body-focused repetitive behavior disorders within the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRD) cluster to include trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder. DSM-5 has taken a slightly different approach: trichotillomania and excoriation (skin picking) disorder are included in the OCRD grouping, while body-focused repetitive behavior disorder is listed under other specified forms of OCRD. DSM-5 also includes a separate category of nonsuicidal self-injury in the section on "conditions for further study." There are a number of unresolved nosological questions regarding the relationships among stereotyped movement disorder, body-focused repetitive behavior disorders, and nonsuicidal self-injury. In this article, we attempt to provide preliminary answers to some of these questions as they relate to the ICD-11 classification of mental and behavioral disorders.

  7. The therapeutic potential of cannabinoids for movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Kluger, Benzi; Triolo, Piera; Jones, Wallace; Jankovic, Joseph

    2015-03-01

    There is growing interest in the therapeutic potential of marijuana (cannabis) and cannabinoid-based chemicals within the medical community and, particularly, for neurological conditions. This interest is driven both by changes in the legal status of cannabis in many areas and increasing research into the roles of endocannabinoids within the central nervous system and their potential as symptomatic and/or neuroprotective therapies. We review basic science as well as preclinical and clinical studies on the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids specifically as it relates to movement disorders. The pharmacology of cannabis is complex, with over 60 neuroactive chemicals identified to date. The endocannabinoid system modulates neurotransmission involved in motor function, particularly within the basal ganglia. Preclinical research in animal models of several movement disorders have shown variable evidence for symptomatic benefits, but more consistently suggest potential neuroprotective effects in several animal models of Parkinson's (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD). Clinical observations and clinical trials of cannabinoid-based therapies suggests a possible benefit of cannabinoids for tics and probably no benefit for tremor in multiple sclerosis or dyskinesias or motor symptoms in PD. Data are insufficient to draw conclusions regarding HD, dystonia, or ataxia and nonexistent for myoclonus or RLS. Despite the widespread publicity about the medical benefits of cannabinoids, further preclinical and clinical research is needed to better characterize the pharmacological, physiological, and therapeutic effects of this class of drugs in movement disorders. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

  8. Post-stroke Movement Disorders: Clinical Manifestations and Pharmacological Management

    PubMed Central

    Siniscalchi, Antonio; Gallelli, Luca; Labate, Angelo; Malferrari, Giovanni; Palleria, Caterina; Sarro, Giovambattista De

    2012-01-01

    Involuntary abnormal movements have been reported after ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. Post stroke movement disorders can appear as acute or delayed sequel. At the moment, for many of these disorders the knowledge of pharmacological treatment is still inadequate. Dopaminergic and GABAergic systems may be mainly involved in post-stroke movement disorders. This article provides a review on drugs commonly used in post-stroke movement disorders, given that some post-stroke movement disorders have shown a partial benefit with pharmacological approach. PMID:23449883

  9. Post-stroke Movement Disorders: Clinical Manifestations and Pharmacological Management.

    PubMed

    Siniscalchi, Antonio; Gallelli, Luca; Labate, Angelo; Malferrari, Giovanni; Palleria, Caterina; Sarro, Giovambattista De

    2012-09-01

    Involuntary abnormal movements have been reported after ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. Post stroke movement disorders can appear as acute or delayed sequel. At the moment, for many of these disorders the knowledge of pharmacological treatment is still inadequate. Dopaminergic and GABAergic systems may be mainly involved in post-stroke movement disorders. This article provides a review on drugs commonly used in post-stroke movement disorders, given that some post-stroke movement disorders have shown a partial benefit with pharmacological approach.

  10. Sex Differences in Task Distribution and Task Exposures among Danish House Painters: An Observational Study Combining Questionnaire Data with Biomechanical Measurements

    PubMed Central

    Heilskov-Hansen, Thomas; Wulff Svendsen, Susanne; Frølund Thomsen, Jane; Mikkelsen, Sigurd; Hansson, Gert-Åke

    2014-01-01

    Objectives Sex differences in occupational biomechanical exposures may be part of the explanation why musculoskeletal complaints and disorders tend to be more common among women than among men. We aimed to determine possible sex differences in task distribution and task-specific postures and movements of the upper extremities among Danish house painters, and to establish sex-specific task exposure matrices. Methods To obtain task distributions, we sent out a questionnaire to all members of the Painters' Union in Denmark (N = 9364), of whom 53% responded. Respondents reported their task distributions in a typical week. To obtain task exposures, postures and movements were measured in 25 male and 25 female house painters for one whole working day per person. We used goniometers on the wrists, and inclinometers on the forehead and the upper arms. Participants filled in a logbook allowing task-specific exposures to be identified. Percentiles and % time with non-neutral postures were used to characterise postures. Velocity, range of motion, repetitiveness, and variation were used as measures of movement. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel statistics and unpaired double-sided t-tests with post-hoc Bonferroni correction were used to evaluate sex differences. Results Statistically significant (p<0.05) sex differences were revealed in task proportions, but the proportions differed by less than 4%. For task exposures, no statistically significant sex differences were found. Conclusions Only minor sex differences were found in task distribution and task exposures regarding postures and movements among Danish house painters. Sex-specific task exposure matrices were established. PMID:25365301

  11. Botulinum toxin therapy for treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis: review and recommendations of the IAB-Interdisciplinary Working Group for Movement Disorders task force.

    PubMed

    Dressler, Dirk; Bhidayasiri, Roongroj; Bohlega, Saeed; Chahidi, Abderrahmane; Chung, Tae Mo; Ebke, Markus; Jacinto, L Jorge; Kaji, Ryuji; Koçer, Serdar; Kanovsky, Petr; Micheli, Federico; Orlova, Olga; Paus, Sebastian; Pirtosek, Zvezdan; Relja, Maja; Rosales, Raymond L; Sagástegui-Rodríguez, José Alberto; Schoenle, Paul W; Shahidi, Gholam Ali; Timerbaeva, Sofia; Walter, Uwe; Saberi, Fereshte Adib

    2017-01-01

    Botulinum toxin (BT) therapy is an established treatment of spasticity due to stroke. For multiple sclerosis (MS) spasticity this is not the case. IAB-Interdisciplinary Working Group for Movement Disorders formed a task force to explore the use of BT therapy for treatment of MS spasticity. A formalised PubMed literature search produced 55 publications (3 randomised controlled trials, 3 interventional studies, 11 observational studies, 2 case studies, 35 reviews, 1 guideline) all unanimously favouring the use of BT therapy for MS spasticity. There is no reason to believe that BT should be less effective and safe in MS spasticity than it is in stroke spasticity. Recommendations include an update of the current prevalence of MS spasticity and its clinical features according to classifications used in movement disorders. Immunological data on MS patients already treated should be analysed with respect to frequencies of MS relapses and BT antibody formation. Registration authorities should expand registration of BT therapy for spasticity regardless of its aetiology. MS specialists should consider BT therapy for symptomatic treatment of spasticity.

  12. Arm and Hand Movement in Children Suspected of Having Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Braddock, Barbara A.; Hilton, Jane C.

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to describe arm and hand movement in children suspected of having autism spectrum disorder (ASD; age range 29-43 months). A videotaped retrospective review of five children with symptoms of ASD during "Communication Temptation Tasks" was completed at two time points (pre-testing and 6 weeks later). Categories of…

  13. Action Recognition and Movement Direction Discrimination Tasks Are Associated with Different Adaptation Patterns

    PubMed Central

    de la Rosa, Stephan; Ekramnia, Mina; Bülthoff, Heinrich H.

    2016-01-01

    The ability to discriminate between different actions is essential for action recognition and social interactions. Surprisingly previous research has often probed action recognition mechanisms with tasks that did not require participants to discriminate between actions, e.g., left-right direction discrimination tasks. It is not known to what degree visual processes in direction discrimination tasks are also involved in the discrimination of actions, e.g., when telling apart a handshake from a high-five. Here, we examined whether action discrimination is influenced by movement direction and whether direction discrimination depends on the type of action. We used an action adaptation paradigm to target action and direction discrimination specific visual processes. In separate conditions participants visually adapted to forward and backward moving handshake and high-five actions. Participants subsequently categorized either the action or the movement direction of an ambiguous action. The results showed that direction discrimination adaptation effects were modulated by the type of action but action discrimination adaptation effects were unaffected by movement direction. These results suggest that action discrimination and direction categorization rely on partly different visual information. We propose that action discrimination tasks should be considered for the exploration of visual action recognition mechanisms. PMID:26941633

  14. Rhythmic movement disorder in childhood: An integrative review.

    PubMed

    Gwyther, Amy R M; Walters, Arthur S; Hill, Catherine M

    2017-10-01

    Rhythmic movement disorder consists of repetitive stereotypic movements, such as head banging or body rocking, that recur every second or so and may last from a few minutes to hours, usually prior to sleep onset. This review of childhood rhythmic movement disorder highlights the lack of systematic research into core aspects of the condition, relying heavily on small case series or case reports. Interpretation is further limited by almost universal failure to confirm the core diagnostic criteria (C) of the International classification of sleep disorders (III), namely that the rhythmic movements should have clinical consequences. Nonetheless, a number of themes emerge. Rhythmic movement disorder is likely to start in infancy and have a developmental course with spontaneous resolution in early childhood in many cases. Factors associated with persistence are, however, unclear. Associations with ADHD and neurodevelopmental disorders are intriguing, require further study and may shed light on the underlying cause of the condition. There is a pressing need for a systematic approach to classify rhythmic movement disorder, to allow standardization of the much needed research into the underlying aetiology and treatment of this relatively neglected sleep disorder. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Trichotillomania, stereotypic movement disorder, and related disorders.

    PubMed

    Stein, Dan J; Garner, Joseph P; Keuthen, Nancy J; Franklin, Martin E; Walkup, John T; Woods, Douglas W

    2007-08-01

    Trichotillomania is currently classified as an impulse control disorder not otherwise classified, whereas body-focused behaviors other than hair-pulling may be diagnosed as stereotypic movement disorder. A number of disorders characterized by repetitive, body-focused behaviors (eg, skin-picking) are prevalent and disabling and may have phenomenological and psychobiological overlap. Such disorders deserve greater recognition in the official nosology, and there would seem to be clinical utility in classifying them in the same diagnostic category.

  16. Stereotypic Movement Disorders.

    PubMed

    Katherine, Mackenzie

    2018-04-01

    This review summarizes motor stereotypies in terms of description, prevalence, pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. They are fixed and persistent movements. Stereotypies begin before 3 years of age and continue into adulthood. Primary motor stereotypies occur in children of normal intelligence, whereas secondary stereotypies ensue in the setting of an additional diagnosis such as autism spectrum disorder or other neurologic disorders. They are highly associated with comorbidities such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, inattention, and tics. The pathophysiology of stereotypies involves fronto-striatal overactive dopaminergic pathways, and underactive cholinergic and GABAergic inhibitory pathways. No genetic markers have been identified despite a clear genetic predisposition. Behavioral therapy is the principle treatment. Future studies will focus on identifying genetic markers, and on better understanding the functional and structural neurobiology of these movements. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Entropy of space-time outcome in a movement speed-accuracy task.

    PubMed

    Hsieh, Tsung-Yu; Pacheco, Matheus Maia; Newell, Karl M

    2015-12-01

    The experiment reported was set-up to investigate the space-time entropy of movement outcome as a function of a range of spatial (10, 20 and 30 cm) and temporal (250-2500 ms) criteria in a discrete aiming task. The variability and information entropy of the movement spatial and temporal errors considered separately increased and decreased on the respective dimension as a function of an increment of movement velocity. However, the joint space-time entropy was lowest when the relative contribution of spatial and temporal task criteria was comparable (i.e., mid-range of space-time constraints), and it increased with a greater trade-off between spatial or temporal task demands, revealing a U-shaped function across space-time task criteria. The traditional speed-accuracy functions of spatial error and temporal error considered independently mapped to this joint space-time U-shaped entropy function. The trade-off in movement tasks with joint space-time criteria is between spatial error and timing error, rather than movement speed and accuracy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. What is the role of genetic testing in movement disorders practice?

    PubMed

    Schneider, Susanne A; Klein, Christine

    2011-08-01

    Genetic testing holds many promises in movement disorders, but also pitfalls that require careful consideration for meaningful results. These include the primary indication for testing in the first place, concerns regarding the implications of symptomatic, presymptomatic, and susceptibility testing, the mutation frequency in the gene of interest, the general lack of neuroprotective treatment options for neurodegenerative movement disorders, the prognosis of the condition diagnosed, and patient confidentiality concerns. Furthermore, new technical achievements and the available technical expertise, feasibility of specific gene testing, and its coverage through a health insurance carrier should be considered. Guidelines for testing have been established by some disease societies to advise clinicians and in parallel legal regulations are being adjusted at a national and international level. We review these and other critical points and recent developments regarding genetic testing in the field of movement disorders.

  19. Clinical identification of the simple sleep-related movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Walters, Arthur S

    2007-04-01

    Simple sleep-related movement disorders must be distinguished from daytime movement disorders that persist during sleep, sleep-related epilepsy, and parasomnias, which are generally characterized by activity that appears to be simultaneously complex, goal-directed, and purposeful but is outside the conscious awareness of the patient and, therefore, inappropriate. Once it is determined that the patient has a simple sleep-related movement disorder, the part of the body affected by the movement and the age of the patient give clues as to which sleep-related movement disorder is present. In some cases, all-night polysomnography with accompanying video may be necessary to make the diagnosis. Hypnic jerks (ie, sleep starts), bruxism, rhythmic movement disorder (ie, head banging/body rocking), and nocturnal leg cramps are discussed in addition to less well-appreciated disorders such as benign sleep myoclonus of infancy, excessive fragmentary myoclonus, and hypnagogic foot tremor/alternating leg muscle activation.

  20. Biological Movement and Laws of Physics.

    PubMed

    Latash, Mark L

    2017-07-01

    Living systems may be defined as systems able to organize new, biology-specific, laws of physics and modify their parameters for specific tasks. Examples include the force-length muscle dependence mediated by the stretch reflex, and the control of movements with modification of the spatial referent coordinates for salient performance variables. Low-dimensional sets of referent coordinates at a task level are transformed to higher-dimensional sets at lower hierarchical levels in a way that ensures stability of performance. Stability of actions can be controlled independently of the actions (e.g., anticipatory synergy adjustments). Unintentional actions reflect relaxation processes leading to drifts of corresponding referent coordinates in the absence of changes in external load. Implications of this general framework for movement disorders, motor development, motor skill acquisition, and even philosophy are discussed.

  1. Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task.

    PubMed

    Sargent, Barbara; Reimann, Hendrik; Kubo, Masayoshi; Fetters, Linda

    2015-06-01

    Task-specific actions emerge from spontaneous movement during infancy. It has been proposed that task-specific actions emerge through a discovery-learning process. Here a method is described in which 3-4 month old infants learn a task by discovery and their leg movements are captured to quantify the learning process. This discovery-learning task uses an infant activated mobile that rotates and plays music based on specified leg action of infants. Supine infants activate the mobile by moving their feet vertically across a virtual threshold. This paradigm is unique in that as infants independently discover that their leg actions activate the mobile, the infants' leg movements are tracked using a motion capture system allowing for the quantification of the learning process. Specifically, learning is quantified in terms of the duration of mobile activation, the position variance of the end effectors (feet) that activate the mobile, changes in hip-knee coordination patterns, and changes in hip and knee muscle torque. This information describes infant exploration and exploitation at the interplay of person and environmental constraints that support task-specific action. Subsequent research using this method can investigate how specific impairments of different populations of infants at risk for movement disorders influence the discovery-learning process for task-specific action.

  2. Irregular head movement patterns in whiplash patients during a trajectory task.

    PubMed

    Woodhouse, Astrid; Stavdahl, Øyvind; Vasseljen, Ottar

    2010-03-01

    Patients with whiplash associated disorders (WAD) have shown less accuracy in trajectory head motion compared to asymptomatic controls, which comply with clinical observations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a trajectory head movement task can differ between WAD patients, chronic non-traumatic neck pain (CNP) patients and asymptomatic controls. Study groups included subjects with WAD (n = 35) with persistent neck pain after a car accident, CNP (n = 45), and asymptomatic controls (n = 48). Head motion was recorded from an unsupported standing position using a 3D Fastrak device. A laser pointer was attached to the head and by moving the head the subjects were asked to trace a figure of eight displayed on the wall at three different paces (slow, moderate and fast). The motion signal was decomposed into 1 Hz frequency bands and angular velocity (deg/s) within each frequency band was calculated. Significantly higher angular RMS velocity was found in the WAD group compared to the two other groups for the slow paced test (3-4 and 4-5 Hz frequency bands) and the moderate paced test (3-4 Hz frequency band) indicating irregular and uncoordinated movements. Angular RMS velocity was associated with pain and dizziness, but only with severe symptom levels. In conclusion, irregular head movements during a complex task were found in the WAD group, indicating altered central sensorimotor processing. The irregularities were found within frequency levels observable to clinicians.

  3. Movement Disorders Induced by the "Atypical" Antipsychotic Aripiprazole.

    PubMed

    Selfani, Karim; Soland, Valérie L; Chouinard, Sylvain; Huot, Philippe

    2017-01-01

    Aripiprazole is an antipsychotic that acts as a partial agonist at dopamine D2 receptors. Because of its partial agonist activity, it was believed that aripiprazole would be less susceptible than typical antipsychotics to induce extrapyramidal side effects. However, a few case-reports and case-series detailing aripiprazole-induced movement disorders have been published, suggesting that aripiprazole-induced movement disorders may arise. Here, we seek to report further cases of aripiprazole-induced movement disorders to raise the awareness of clinicians on this adverse effect. Patients referred to the André-Barbeau Movement Disorder clinic treated with aripiprazole were enrolled in this study. Their charts were retrospectively reviewed and data regarding past psychiatric history, past antipsychotic medication, duration of aripiprazole treatment, daily dose of aripiprazole administered, and resulting movement disorders were collected. We report 14 cases of parkinsonism, tardive dyskinesia and akathisia induced by aripiprazole. Some of these, mostly the parkinsonian phenotype, abated spontaneously following drug discontinuation, whereas others, mostly related to tardive phenomena, persisted after aripiprazole was discontinued, and required treatment. This case-series adds to the existing literature that suggests that movement disorders may arise following treatment with aripiprazole. Clinicians should be aware of this potential side effect when prescribing aripiprazole to patients.

  4. Sensory aspects of movement disorders

    PubMed Central

    Patel, Neepa; Jankovic, Joseph; Hallett, Mark

    2016-01-01

    Movement disorders, which include disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, Tourette’s syndrome, restless legs syndrome, and akathisia, have traditionally been considered to be disorders of impaired motor control resulting predominantly from dysfunction of the basal ganglia. This notion has been revised largely because of increasing recognition of associated behavioural, psychiatric, autonomic, and other non-motor symptoms. The sensory aspects of movement disorders include intrinsic sensory abnormalities and the effects of external sensory input on the underlying motor abnormality. The basal ganglia, cerebellum, thalamus, and their connections, coupled with altered sensory input, seem to play a key part in abnormal sensorimotor integration. However, more investigation into the phenomenology and physiological basis of sensory abnormalities, and about the role of the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and related structures in somatosensory processing, and its effect on motor control, is needed. PMID:24331796

  5. Clinical-Radiologic Correlation of Extraocular Eye Movement Disorders: Seeing beneath the Surface.

    PubMed

    Thatcher, Joshua; Chang, Yu-Ming; Chapman, Margaret N; Hovis, Keegan; Fujita, Akifumi; Sobel, Rachel; Sakai, Osamu

    2016-01-01

    Extraocular eye movement disorders are relatively common and may be a significant source of discomfort and morbidity for patients. The presence of restricted eye movement can be detected clinically with quick, easily performed, noninvasive maneuvers that assess medial, lateral, upward, and downward gaze. However, detecting the presence of ocular dysmotility may not be sufficient to pinpoint the exact cause of eye restriction. Imaging plays an important role in excluding, in some cases, and detecting, in others, a specific cause responsible for the clinical presentation. However, the radiologist should be aware that the imaging findings in many of these conditions when taken in isolation from the clinical history and symptoms are often nonspecific. Normal eye movements are directly controlled by the ocular motor cranial nerves (CN III, IV, and VI) in coordination with indirect input or sensory stimuli derived from other cranial nerves. Specific causes of ocular dysmotility can be localized to the cranial nerve nuclei in the brainstem, the cranial nerve pathways in the peripheral nervous system, and the extraocular muscles in the orbit, with disease at any of these sites manifesting clinically as an eye movement disorder. A thorough understanding of central nervous system anatomy, cranial nerve pathways, and orbital anatomy, as well as familiarity with patterns of eye movement restriction, are necessary for accurate detection of radiologic abnormalities that support a diagnostic source of the suspected extraocular movement disorder. © RSNA, 2016.

  6. Ictal SPECT in patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder.

    PubMed

    Mayer, Geert; Bitterlich, Marion; Kuwert, Torsten; Ritt, Philipp; Stefan, Hermann

    2015-05-01

    Rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder is a rapid eye movement parasomnia clinically characterized by acting out dreams due to disinhibition of muscle tone in rapid eye movement sleep. Up to 80-90% of the patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder develop neurodegenerative disorders within 10-15 years after symptom onset. The disorder is reported in 45-60% of all narcoleptic patients. Whether rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder is also a predictor for neurodegeneration in narcolepsy is not known. Although the pathophysiology causing the disinhibition of muscle tone in rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder has been studied extensively in animals, little is known about the mechanisms in humans. Most of the human data are from imaging or post-mortem studies. Recent studies show altered functional connectivity between substantia nigra and striatum in patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. We were interested to study which regions are activated in rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder during actual episodes by performing ictal single photon emission tomography. We studied one patient with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, one with Parkinson's disease and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, and two patients with narcolepsy and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. All patients underwent extended video polysomnography. The tracer was injected after at least 10 s of consecutive rapid eye movement sleep and 10 s of disinhibited muscle tone accompanied by movements registered by an experienced sleep technician. Ictal single photon emission tomography displayed the same activation in the bilateral premotor areas, the interhemispheric cleft, the periaqueductal area, the dorsal and ventral pons and the anterior lobe of the cerebellum in all patients. Our study shows that in patients with Parkinson's disease and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder-in contrast to wakefulness

  7. Immune-mediated extrapyramidal movement disorders, including Sydenham chorea.

    PubMed

    Dale, Russell C

    2013-01-01

    Immune-mediated extrapyramidal movement disorders typically occur in previously healthy children. Immune-mediated movement disorders may occur as a postinfectious, paraneoplastic, or idiopathic process. Sydenham chorea (SC) is the classical poststreptococcal movement and psychiatric disorder, and may be associated with other features of rheumatic fever. The outcome is typically good, although residual chorea, psychiatric disturbance, and relapses are possible. Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a syndrome of streptococcal-induced tics and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Although a number of investigators have reported an association between streptococcal infection and neuropsychiatric syndromes, the PANDAS hypothesis is controversial. Encephalitis lethargica is an encephalitic illness with parkinsonism, dyskinesias, and psychiatric disturbance as dominant features. The exact disease mechanism is not understood, although an autoimmune process is suspected. NMDA-R encephalitis is a new entity characterized by encephalitis with dramatic psychiatric disturbance, dyskinesias, cognitive alteration, and seizures. Patients have autoantibodies against the NMDA-R that appear to be pathogenic: immune therapies appear warranted to minimize disability. Movement disorders are also described associated with systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid syndrome. The differential diagnosis and investigation approach of acute-onset movement disorders are also discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. ECEM (Eye Closure, Eye Movements): application to depersonalization disorder.

    PubMed

    Harriet, E Hollander

    2009-10-01

    Eye Closure, Eye Movements (ECEM) is a hypnotically-based approach to treatment that incorporates eye movements adapted from the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) protocol in conjunction with hypnosis for the treatment of depersonalization disorder. Depersonalization Disorder has been differentiated from post-traumatic stress disorders and has recently been conceptualized as a subtype of panic disorder (Baker et al., 2003; David, Phillips, Medford, & Sierra, 2004; Segui et. al., 2000). During ECEM, while remaining in a hypnotic state, clients self-generated six to seven trials of eye movements to reduce anticipatory anxiety associated with depersonalization disorder. Eye movements were also used to process triggers that elicited breath holding, often followed by episodes of depersonalization. Hypnotic suggestions were used to reverse core symptoms of depersonalization, subjectively described as "feeling unreal" (Simeon et al., 1997).

  9. Learning to juggle: on the assembly of functional subsystems into a task-specific dynamical organization.

    PubMed

    Huys, R; Daffertshofer, A; Beek, P J

    2003-04-01

    We examined the development of task-specific couplings among functional subsystems (i.e., ball circulation, respiration, and body sway) when learning to juggle a three-ball cascade, with a focus on learning-induced changes in the coupling between ball movements and respiration and the coupling between ball movements and body sway. Six novices practiced to juggle three balls in cascade fashion for one hour per day for twenty days. On specific days (7 in total), ball movements, center-of-pressure (CoP) trajectories and respiration traces were measured simultaneously. Discrete, time-continuous and spectral analyses revealed that the spatio-temporal variability of the juggling patterns decreased with practice and that the degree to which the task constraints were satisfied increased gradually. No conclusive evidence was found for ball movement-respiration coupling. In contrast, clear-cut evidence was found for the presence of 1:3 and 2:3 frequency locking between the vertical component of the ball trajectories and both the anterior-posterior and the medio-lateral components of the CoP. Incidence and expression of these mode locks varied across individuals and altered in the course of learning. Gradual changes in locking strength, appearances and disappearances of mode locks, as well as abrupt transitions between coupled states were observed. These results indicate that dissimilar learning dynamics may arise in the functional embedding of subsystems into a task-specific organization and that motor equivalence is an inherent property of such emerging task-specific organizations.

  10. [Risk factors for tardive movement disorders in schizophrenia].

    PubMed

    Tenback, D E; Bakker, P R; van Harten, P N

    2015-01-01

    Tardive movement disorders are common among patients with schizophrenia. Risk factors for movement disorders are of the utmost importance in the context of preventive strategies. To achieve clearer classification of movement disorders in schizophrenia, to identify the risk factors involved and thereby develop strategies to prevent movement disorders. We searched PubMed for prospective studies which had been performed in homogeneous target populations with schizophrenia and which contained well-defined definitions of the movement disorders. From these we selected studies in which risk factors were repeatedly identified. Tardive dyskinesia is well documented. Risk factors for developing tardive dyskinesia are use of antipsychotics, particularly those belonging to the first generation, 'not belonging to the Caucasian race', early extrapyramidal symptoms and older age. So far, there is very little conclusive evidence regarding the genetics of tardive movement disorders. With regard to tardive dyskinesia, not belonging to the Caucasian race and old age are two risk factors that can be quickly determined for the purpose of prevention. In this case it leads to the choice of medication with a low D2 affinity. Furthermore, it is advisable, after commencing treatment with an antipsychotic drug, to evaluate on a regular basis if the patient is showing (early) signs of TD. If TD does occur, there is a choice between medication with a low D-2 affinity or clozapine.

  11. Substances of abuse and movement disorders: complex interactions and comorbidities

    PubMed Central

    Deik, Andres; Saunders-Pullman, Rachel; Luciano, Marta San

    2014-01-01

    The relationship between movement disorders and substance abuse which we previously reviewed are updated. We examine these relationships bidirectionally with focus on drugs of abuse which cause movement disorders, as well as primary movement disorders that are associated with use and abuse of alcohol and dopaminergic medications. First, we review the movement disorders that may develop from the acute use or withdrawal of frequent drugs of abuse, including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, amphetamine and methcathinone. We then comment on the interaction between alcoholism and alcohol-responsive movement disorders, such as essential tremor and myoclonus-dystonia. Lastly, we discuss the potential for abuse of antiparkinsonian dopaminergic agents in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). PMID:23030352

  12. Associations of specific psychiatric disorders with isolated focal dystonia, and monogenic and idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Steinlechner, Susanne; Hagenah, Johann; Rumpf, Hans-Jürgen; Meyer, Christian; John, Ulrich; Bäumer, Tobias; Brüggemann, Norbert; Kasten, Meike; Münchau, Alexander; Klein, Christine; Lencer, Rebekka

    2017-06-01

    Comorbidity of psychiatric disorders in patients with movement disorders is common. Often, psychiatric symptoms manifest before the onset of the movement disorder, thus not representing a mere reaction to its burden. How the disease mechanisms of psychiatric and movement disorders are related is still poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to compare prevalence rates of specific psychiatric disorders between different movement disorders including isolated focal dystonia (IFD, N = 91), monogenic Parkinson's disease (PD, N = 41), idiopathic PD (N = 45), and a sample from a Northern Germany general population (TACOS Study; N = 4075). Our results indicate an odds ratio (OR) of 2.6 [confidence interval (CI) 1.7-4.0] for general axis I disorders in IFD, an OR of 2.5 (CI 1.4-4.7) in monogenic PD, and an OR of 1.4 (CI 0.8-2.6) in idiopathic PD. More specifically, the monogenic PD group showed the highest ORs for affective disorders including depression (OR = 4.9), bipolar disorder (OR = 17.4), and hypomanic episodes (OR = 17.0), whereas IFD expressed the highest rates of anxiety disorders (OR = 3.3). Psychotic symptoms were only observed in the PD groups but not in IFD. Our findings underline the notion that psychiatric disorders are part of the phenotypic spectrum of movement disorders. Moreover, they suggest that IFD, monogenic PD, and idiopathic PD are associated with specific psychiatric disorders indicating disturbances in a different neural circuitry for sensorimotor control.

  13. An eye movement analysis of the effect of interruption modality on primary task resumption.

    PubMed

    Ratwani, Raj; Trafton, J Gregory

    2010-06-01

    We examined the effect of interruption modality (visual or auditory) on primary task (visual) resumption to determine which modality was the least disruptive. Theories examining interruption modality have focused on specific periods of the interruption timeline. Preemption theory has focused on the switch from the primary task to the interrupting task. Multiple resource theory has focused on interrupting tasks that are to be performed concurrently with the primary task. Our focus was on examining how interruption modality influences task resumption.We leverage the memory-for-goals theory, which suggests that maintaining an associative link between environmental cues and the suspended primary task goal is important for resumption. Three interruption modality conditions were examined: auditory interruption with the primary task visible, auditory interruption with a blank screen occluding the primary task, and a visual interruption occluding the primary task. Reaction time and eye movement data were collected. The auditory condition with the primary task visible was the least disruptive. Eye movement data suggest that participants in this condition were actively maintaining an associative link between relevant environmental cues on the primary task interface and the suspended primary task goal during the interruption. These data suggest that maintaining cue association is the important factor for reducing the disruptiveness of interruptions, not interruption modality. Interruption-prone computing environments should be designed to allow for the user to have access to relevant primary task cues during an interruption to minimize disruptiveness.

  14. Neuroleptic-induced movement disorders in a naturalistic schizophrenia population: diagnostic value of actometric movement patterns.

    PubMed

    Janno, Sven; Holi, Matti M; Tuisku, Katinka; Wahlbeck, Kristian

    2008-04-18

    Neuroleptic-induced movement disorders (NIMDs) have overlapping co-morbidity. Earlier studies have described typical clinical movement patterns for individual NIMDs. This study aimed to identify specific movement patterns for each individual NIMD using actometry. A naturalistic population of 99 schizophrenia inpatients using conventional antipsychotics and clozapine was evaluated. Subjects with NIMDs were categorized using the criteria for NIMD found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV).Two blinded raters evaluated the actometric-controlled rest activity data for activity periods, rhythmical activity, frequencies, and highest acceleration peaks. A simple subjective question was formulated to test patient-based evaluation of NIMD. The patterns of neuroleptic-induced akathisia (NIA) and pseudoakathisia (PsA) were identifiable in actometry with excellent inter-rater reliability. The answers to the subjective question about troubles with movements distinguished NIA patients from other patients rather well. Also actometry had rather good screening performances in distinguishing akathisia from other NIMD. Actometry was not able to reliably detect patterns of neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia. The present study showed that pooled NIA and PsA patients had a different pattern in lower limb descriptive actometry than other patients in a non-selected sample. Careful questioning of patients is a useful method of diagnosing NIA in a clinical setting.

  15. Stereotypic movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Singer, Harvey S

    2011-01-01

    Stereotypic movements are repetitive, rhythmic, fixed, patterned in form, amplitude, and localization, but purposeless (e.g., hand shaking, waving, body rocking, head nodding). They are commonly seen in children; both in normal children (primary stereotypy) and in individuals with additional behavioral or neurological signs and symptoms (secondary stereotypy). They should be differentiated from compulsions (OCD), tics (tic disorders), trichotillomania, skin picking disorder, or the direct physiological effect of a substance. There is increasing evidence to support a neurobiological mechanism. Response to behavioral and pharmacological therapies is variable. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Rhythmic movement disorder (head banging) in an adult during rapid eye movement sleep.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Kirstie N; Smith, Ian E; Shneerson, John M

    2006-06-01

    Sleep-related rhythmic movements (head banging or body rocking) are extremely common in normal infants and young children, but less than 5% of children over the age of 5 years old exhibit these stereotyped motor behaviors. They characteristically occur during drowsiness or sleep onset rather than in deep sleep or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. We present a 27-year-old man with typical rhythmic movement disorder that had persisted into adult life and was restricted to REM sleep. This man is the oldest subject with this presentation reported to date and highlights the importance of recognizing this nocturnal movement disorder when it does occur in adults.

  17. The coeruleus/subcoeruleus complex in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder.

    PubMed

    Ehrminger, Mickael; Latimier, Alice; Pyatigorskaya, Nadya; Garcia-Lorenzo, Daniel; Leu-Semenescu, Smaranda; Vidailhet, Marie; Lehericy, Stéphane; Arnulf, Isabelle

    2016-04-01

    Idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder is characterized by nocturnal violence, increased muscle tone during rapid eye movement sleep and the lack of any other neurological disease. However, idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder can precede parkinsonism and dementia by several years. Using 3 T magnetic resonance imaging and neuromelanin-sensitive sequences, we previously found that the signal intensity was reduced in the locus coeruleus/subcoeruleus area of patients with Parkinson's disease and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. Here, we studied the integrity of the locus coeruleus/subcoeruleus complex with neuromelanin-sensitive imaging in 21 patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder and compared the results with those from 21 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. All subjects underwent a clinical examination, motor, cognitive, autonomous, psychological, olfactory and colour vision tests, and rapid eye movement sleep characterization using video-polysomnography and 3 T magnetic resonance imaging. The patients more frequently had preclinical markers of alpha-synucleinopathies, including constipation, olfactory deficits, orthostatic hypotension, and subtle motor impairment. Using neuromelanin-sensitive imaging, reduced signal intensity was identified in the locus coeruleus/subcoeruleus complex of the patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour. The mean sensitivity of the visual analyses of the signal performed by neuroradiologists who were blind to the clinical diagnoses was 82.5%, and the specificity was 81% for the identification of idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour. The results confirm that this complex is affected in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour (to the same degree as it is affected in Parkinson's disease). Neuromelanin-sensitive imaging provides an early marker of non-dopaminergic alpha-synucleinopathy that can be detected on an individual

  18. The Therapeutic Potential of Cannabinoids for Movement Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Kluger, Benzi; Triolo, Piera; Jones, Wallace; Jankovic, Joseph

    2014-01-01

    Background There is growing interest in the therapeutic potential of marijuana (cannabis) and cannabinoid-based chemicals within the medical community and particularly for neurologic conditions. This interest is driven both by changes in the legal status of cannabis in many areas and increasing research into the roles of endocannabinoids within the central nervous system and their potential as symptomatic and/or neuroprotective therapies. We review basic science, preclinical and clinical studies on the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids specifically as it relates to movement disorders. Results The pharmacology of cannabis is complex with over 60 neuroactive chemicals identified to date. The endocannabinoid system modulates neurotransmission involved in motor function, particularly within the basal ganglia. Preclinical research in animal models of several movement disorders have shown variable evidence for symptomatic benefits but more consistently suggest potential neuroprotective effects in several animal models of Parkinson’s (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD). Clinical observations and clinical trials of cannabinoid-based therapies suggests a possible benefit of cannabinoids for tics and probably no benefit for tremor in multiple sclerosis or dyskinesias or motor symptoms in PD. Data are insufficient to draw conclusions regarding HD, dystonia or ataxia and nonexistent for myoclonus or restless legs syndrome. Conclusions Despite the widespread publicity about the medical benefits of cannabinoids, further preclinical and clinical research is needed to better characterize the pharmacological, physiological and therapeutic effects of this class of drugs in movement disorders. PMID:25649017

  19. The role of uncertainty and reward on eye movements in a virtual driving task

    PubMed Central

    Sullivan, Brian T.; Johnson, Leif; Rothkopf, Constantin A.; Ballard, Dana; Hayhoe, Mary

    2012-01-01

    Eye movements during natural tasks are well coordinated with ongoing task demands and many variables could influence gaze strategies. Sprague and Ballard (2003) proposed a gaze-scheduling model that uses a utility-weighted uncertainty metric to prioritize fixations on task-relevant objects and predicted that human gaze should be influenced by both reward structure and task-relevant uncertainties. To test this conjecture, we tracked the eye movements of participants in a simulated driving task where uncertainty and implicit reward (via task priority) were varied. Participants were instructed to simultaneously perform a Follow Task where they followed a lead car at a specific distance and a Speed Task where they drove at an exact speed. We varied implicit reward by instructing the participants to emphasize one task over the other and varied uncertainty in the Speed Task with the presence or absence of uniform noise added to the car's velocity. Subjects' gaze data were classified for the image content near fixation and segmented into looks. Gaze measures, including look proportion, duration and interlook interval, showed that drivers more closely monitor the speedometer if it had a high level of uncertainty, but only if it was also associated with high task priority or implicit reward. The interaction observed appears to be an example of a simple mechanism whereby the reduction of visual uncertainty is gated by behavioral relevance. This lends qualitative support for the primary variables controlling gaze allocation proposed in the Sprague and Ballard model. PMID:23262151

  20. Bruxism in Movement Disorders: A Comprehensive Review.

    PubMed

    Ella, Bruno; Ghorayeb, Imad; Burbaud, Pierre; Guehl, Dominique

    2017-10-01

    Bruxism is an abnormal repetitive movement disorder characterized by jaw clenching and tooth gnashing or grinding. It is classified into two overlapping types: awake bruxism (AB) and sleep bruxism (SB). Theories on factors causing bruxism are a matter of controversy, but a line of evidence suggests that it may to some extent be linked to basal ganglia dysfunction although so far, this topic has received little attention. The purpose of this article was to review cases of bruxism reported in various movement disorders. The biomedical literature was searched for publications reporting the association of bruxism with various types of movement disorders. As a whole, very few series were found, and most papers corresponded to clinical reports. In Parkinsonian syndromes, AB was rarely reported, but seems to be exacerbated by medical treatment, whereas SB is mainly observed during non-REM sleep, as in restless leg syndrome. AB is occasionally reported in Huntington's disease, primary dystonia, and secondary dystonia; however, its highest incidence and severity is reported in syndromes combining stereotypies and cognitive impairment, such as Rett's syndrome (97%), Down syndrome (42%), and autistic spectrum disorders (32%). Taken as a whole, AB seems to be more frequent in hyperkinetic movement disorders, notably those with stereotypies, and is influenced by anxiety, suggesting an involvement of the limbic part of the basal ganglia in its pathophysiology. © 2016 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

  1. Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder), skin picking disorder, and stereotypic movement disorder: toward DSM-V.

    PubMed

    Stein, Dan J; Grant, Jon E; Franklin, Martin E; Keuthen, Nancy; Lochner, Christine; Singer, Harvey S; Woods, Douglas W

    2010-06-01

    In DSM-IV-TR, trichotillomania (TTM) is classified as an impulse control disorder (not classified elsewhere), skin picking lacks its own diagnostic category (but might be diagnosed as an impulse control disorder not otherwise specified), and stereotypic movement disorder is classified as a disorder usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence. ICD-10 classifies TTM as a habit and impulse disorder, and includes stereotyped movement disorders in a section on other behavioral and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence. This article provides a focused review of nosological issues relevant to DSM-V, given recent empirical findings. This review presents a number of options and preliminary recommendations to be considered for DSM-V: (1) Although TTM fits optimally into a category of body-focused repetitive behavioral disorders, in a nosology comprised of relatively few major categories it fits best within a category of motoric obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, (2) available evidence does not support continuing to include (current) diagnostic criteria B and C for TTM in DSM-V, (3) the text for TTM should be updated to describe subtypes and forms of hair pulling, (4) there are persuasive reasons for referring to TTM as "hair pulling disorder (trichotillomania)," (5) diagnostic criteria for skin picking disorder should be included in DSM-V or in DSM-Vs Appendix of Criteria Sets Provided for Further Study, and (6) the diagnostic criteria for stereotypic movement disorder should be clarified and simplified, bringing them in line with those for hair pulling and skin picking disorder. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  2. Brain oscillatory signatures of motor tasks

    PubMed Central

    Birbaumer, Niels

    2015-01-01

    Noninvasive brain-computer-interfaces (BCI) coupled with prosthetic devices were recently introduced in the rehabilitation of chronic stroke and other disorders of the motor system. These BCI systems and motor rehabilitation in general involve several motor tasks for training. This study investigates the neurophysiological bases of an EEG-oscillation-driven BCI combined with a neuroprosthetic device to define the specific oscillatory signature of the BCI task. Controlling movements of a hand robotic orthosis with motor imagery of the same movement generates sensorimotor rhythm oscillation changes and involves three elements of tasks also used in stroke motor rehabilitation: passive and active movement, motor imagery, and motor intention. We recorded EEG while nine healthy participants performed five different motor tasks consisting of closing and opening of the hand as follows: 1) motor imagery without any external feedback and without overt hand movement, 2) motor imagery that moves the orthosis proportional to the produced brain oscillation change with online proprioceptive and visual feedback of the hand moving through a neuroprosthetic device (BCI condition), 3) passive and 4) active movement of the hand with feedback (seeing and feeling the hand moving), and 5) rest. During the BCI condition, participants received contingent online feedback of the decrease of power of the sensorimotor rhythm, which induced orthosis movement and therefore proprioceptive and visual information from the moving hand. We analyzed brain activity during the five conditions using time-frequency domain bootstrap-based statistical comparisons and Morlet transforms. Activity during rest was used as a reference. Significant contralateral and ipsilateral event-related desynchronization of sensorimotor rhythm was present during all motor tasks, largest in contralateral-postcentral, medio-central, and ipsilateral-precentral areas identifying the ipsilateral precentral cortex as an integral

  3. [Scenes in movement. Movement disorders on film].

    PubMed

    Olivares Romero, J

    2010-03-01

    There are publications in which various neurological diseases are analysed on film. However, no references have been found on movement disorders in this medium. A total of 104 documents were collected and reviewed using the internet movie data base (IMDb). The majority were associated with dystonia, Parkinson's and tics, were American commercial productions, and the most common genre was drama. The cinema usually depicts old men with developed Parkinson's disease. However, motor complications only appear in 19% and non-motor symptoms in 14%. The image of dystonia is generally that of a young man, with disabling dystonia secondary to childhood cerebral palsy. Tics appear associated with Tourette's syndrome, with the excessive use of obscene expressions and with very few references to other important aspects of this syndrome, such as mood and behavioural changes. The majority of tremors portrayed on film are associated with Parkinsonism and are not pathological. Myoclonus appears anecdotically and is normally symptomatic. Parkinson's disease is the type of movement disorder that the cinema portrays with greater neurological honesty and in a more dignified manner.

  4. Influence of dual-tasking with different levels of attention diversion on characteristics of the movement-related cortical potential.

    PubMed

    Aliakbaryhosseinabadi, Susan; Kamavuako, Ernest Nlandu; Jiang, Ning; Farina, Dario; Mrachacz-Kersting, Natalie

    2017-11-01

    Dual tasking is defined as performing two tasks concurrently and has been shown to have a significant effect on attention directed to the performance of the main task. In this study, an attention diversion task with two different levels was administered while participants had to complete a cue-based motor task consisting of foot dorsiflexion. An auditory oddball task with two levels of complexity was implemented to divert the user's attention. Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were made from nine single channels. Event-related potentials (ERPs) confirmed that the oddball task of counting a sequence of two tones decreased the auditory P300 amplitude more than the oddball task of counting one target tone among three different tones. Pre-movement features quantified from the movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) were changed significantly between single and dual-task conditions in motor and fronto-central channels. There was a significant delay in movement detection for the case of single tone counting in two motor channels only (237.1-247.4ms). For the task of sequence counting, motor cortex and frontal channels showed a significant delay in MRCP detection (232.1-250.5ms). This study investigated the effect of attention diversion in dual-task conditions by analysing both ERPs and MRCPs in single channels. The higher attention diversion lead to a significant reduction in specific MRCP features of the motor task. These results suggest that attention division in dual-tasking situations plays an important role in movement execution and detection. This has important implications in designing real-time brain-computer interface systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Symptom-specific amygdala hyperactivity modulates motor control network in conversion disorder.

    PubMed

    Hassa, Thomas; Sebastian, Alexandra; Liepert, Joachim; Weiller, Cornelius; Schmidt, Roger; Tüscher, Oliver

    2017-01-01

    Initial historical accounts as well as recent data suggest that emotion processing is dysfunctional in conversion disorder patients and that this alteration may be the pathomechanistic neurocognitive basis for symptoms in conversion disorder. However, to date evidence of direct interaction of altered negative emotion processing with motor control networks in conversion disorder is still lacking. To specifically study the neural correlates of emotion processing interacting with motor networks we used a task combining emotional and sensorimotor stimuli both separately as well as simultaneously during functional magnetic resonance imaging in a well characterized group of 13 conversion disorder patients with functional hemiparesis and 19 demographically matched healthy controls. We performed voxelwise statistical parametrical mapping for a priori regions of interest within emotion processing and motor control networks. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) was used to test altered functional connectivity of emotion and motor control networks. Only during simultaneous emotional stimulation and passive movement of the affected hand patients displayed left amygdala hyperactivity. PPI revealed increased functional connectivity in patients between the left amygdala and the (pre-)supplemental motor area and the subthalamic nucleus, key regions within the motor control network. These findings suggest a novel mechanistic direct link between dysregulated emotion processing and motor control circuitry in conversion disorder.

  6. Secondary-Task Effects on Learning with Multimedia: An Investigation through Eye-Movement Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Acarturk, Cengiz; Ozcelik, Erol

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates secondary-task interference on eye movements through learning with multimedia. We focus on the relationship between the influence of the secondary task on the eye movements of learners, and the learning outcomes as measured by retention, matching, and transfer. Half of the participants performed a spatial tapping task while…

  7. Motor cortex stimulation for movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Cioni, Beatrice; Tufo, Tommaso; Bentivoglio, Annarita; Trevisi, Gianluca; Piano, Carla

    2016-06-01

    Motor cortex stimulation (MCS) was introduced by Tsubokawa in 1991 1 for the treatment of thalamic pain, after coming to the conclusion that the hyperactivity of thalamic neurons after spino-thalamic tractotomy was inhibited by stimulation of the motor cortex. MCS has been reported not only to be effective on pain, but also to improve movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, tremor, dystonia, poststroke movement disorders and hemiparesis. Most of these publications are case reports or small series, and the real impact of MCS on movement disorders remains to be determined. In order to clarify this point, we conducted a PubMed search from 1991 to 2016 using established MeSH words. A total of 40 papers were selected and examined. Furthermore, personal experience with MCS for Parkinson's disease and akinesia, is reported. Only four studies were randomized controlled clinical trials: three out of four failed to demonstrate the efficacy of MCS at short term. At long term, MCS seems to show a clinical positive effect in the studies prolonged in an open observational trial.

  8. Neuroleptic-induced movement disorders in a naturalistic schizophrenia population: diagnostic value of actometric movement patterns

    PubMed Central

    Janno, Sven; Holi, Matti M; Tuisku, Katinka; Wahlbeck, Kristian

    2008-01-01

    Background Neuroleptic-induced movement disorders (NIMDs) have overlapping co-morbidity. Earlier studies have described typical clinical movement patterns for individual NIMDs. This study aimed to identify specific movement patterns for each individual NIMD using actometry. Methods A naturalistic population of 99 schizophrenia inpatients using conventional antipsychotics and clozapine was evaluated. Subjects with NIMDs were categorized using the criteria for NIMD found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Two blinded raters evaluated the actometric-controlled rest activity data for activity periods, rhythmical activity, frequencies, and highest acceleration peaks. A simple subjective question was formulated to test patient-based evaluation of NIMD. Results The patterns of neuroleptic-induced akathisia (NIA) and pseudoakathisia (PsA) were identifiable in actometry with excellent inter-rater reliability. The answers to the subjective question about troubles with movements distinguished NIA patients from other patients rather well. Also actometry had rather good screening performances in distinguishing akathisia from other NIMD. Actometry was not able to reliably detect patterns of neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia. Conclusion The present study showed that pooled NIA and PsA patients had a different pattern in lower limb descriptive actometry than other patients in a non-selected sample. Careful questioning of patients is a useful method of diagnosing NIA in a clinical setting. PMID:18419829

  9. Movement disorders in paraneoplastic and autoimmune disease

    PubMed Central

    Panzer, Jessica; Dalmau, Josep

    2013-01-01

    Purpose of review The most relevant advances in immune-mediated movement disorders are described, with emphasis on the clinical–immunological associations, novel antigens, and treatment. Recent findings Many movement disorders previously considered idiopathic or degenerative are now recognized as immune-mediated. Some disorders are paraneoplastic, such as anti-CRMP5-associated chorea, anti-Ma2 hypokinesis and rigidity, anti-Yo cerebellar ataxia and tremor, and anti-Hu ataxia and pesudoathetosis. Other disorders such as Sydenham's chorea, or chorea related to systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid syndrome occur in association with multiple antibodies, are not paraneoplastic, and are triggered by molecular mimicry or unknown mechanisms. Recent studies have revealed a new category of disorders that can be paraneoplastic or not, and associate with antibodies against cell-surface or synaptic proteins. They include anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis, which may cause dyskinesias, chorea, ballismus or dystonia (NMDAR antibodies), the spectrum of Stiff-person syndrome/muscle rigidity (glutamic acid decarboxylase, amphiphysin, GABAA-receptor-associated protein, or glycine receptor antibodies), neuromyotonia (Caspr2 antibodies), and opsoclonus–myoclonus–ataxia (unknown antigens). Summary Neurologists should be aware that many movement disorders are immune-mediated. Recognition of these disorders is important because it may lead to the diagnosis of an occult cancer, and a substantial number of patients, mainly those with antibodies to cell-surface or synaptic proteins, respond to immunotherapy. PMID:21577108

  10. [Neuropsychiatry Of Movement Disorders].

    PubMed

    Orjuela-Rojas, Juan Manuel; Barrios Vincos, Gustavo Adolfo; Martínez Gallego, Melisa Alejandra

    2017-10-01

    Movement disorders can be defined as neurological syndromes presenting with excessive or diminished automatic or voluntary movements not related to weakness or spasticity. Both Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD) are well-known examples of these syndromes. The high prevalence of comorbid psychiatric symptoms like depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, hallucinations, delusions, impulsivity, sleep disorders, apathy and cognitive impairment mean that these conditions must be regarded as neuropsychiatric diseases. In this article, we review neuroanatomical (structural and functional), psychopathological and neuropsychological aspects of PD and HD. The role of fronto-subcortical loops in non-motor functions is particularly emphasised in order to understand the clinical spectrum of both diseases, together with the influence of genetic, psychological and psychosocial aspects. A brief description of the main psychopharmacological approaches for both diseases is also included. Copyright © 2017 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  11. Oral and Hand Movement Speeds are Associated with Expressive Language Ability in Children with Speech Sound Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Peter, Beate

    2013-01-01

    This study tested the hypothesis that children with speech sound disorder have generalized slowed motor speeds. It evaluated associations among oral and hand motor speeds and measures of speech (articulation and phonology) and language (receptive vocabulary, sentence comprehension, sentence imitation), in 11 children with moderate to severe SSD and 11 controls. Syllable durations from a syllable repetition task served as an estimate of maximal oral movement speed. In two imitation tasks, nonwords and clapped rhythms, unstressed vowel durations and quarter-note clap intervals served as estimates of oral and hand movement speed, respectively. Syllable durations were significantly correlated with vowel durations and hand clap intervals. Sentence imitation was correlated with all three timed movement measures. Clustering on syllable repetition durations produced three clusters that also differed in sentence imitation scores. Results are consistent with limited movement speeds across motor systems and SSD subtypes defined by motor speeds as a corollary of expressive language abilities. PMID:22411590

  12. Oral and hand movement speeds are associated with expressive language ability in children with speech sound disorder.

    PubMed

    Peter, Beate

    2012-12-01

    This study tested the hypothesis that children with speech sound disorder have generalized slowed motor speeds. It evaluated associations among oral and hand motor speeds and measures of speech (articulation and phonology) and language (receptive vocabulary, sentence comprehension, sentence imitation), in 11 children with moderate to severe SSD and 11 controls. Syllable durations from a syllable repetition task served as an estimate of maximal oral movement speed. In two imitation tasks, nonwords and clapped rhythms, unstressed vowel durations and quarter-note clap intervals served as estimates of oral and hand movement speed, respectively. Syllable durations were significantly correlated with vowel durations and hand clap intervals. Sentence imitation was correlated with all three timed movement measures. Clustering on syllable repetition durations produced three clusters that also differed in sentence imitation scores. Results are consistent with limited movement speeds across motor systems and SSD subtypes defined by motor speeds as a corollary of expressive language abilities.

  13. Response inhibition in motor conversion disorder.

    PubMed

    Voon, Valerie; Ekanayake, Vindhya; Wiggs, Edythe; Kranick, Sarah; Ameli, Rezvan; Harrison, Neil A; Hallett, Mark

    2013-05-01

    Conversion disorders (CDs) are unexplained neurological symptoms presumed to be related to a psychological issue. Studies focusing on conversion paralysis have suggested potential impairments in motor initiation or execution. Here we studied CD patients with aberrant or excessive motor movements and focused on motor response inhibition. We also assessed cognitive measures in multiple domains. We compared 30 CD patients and 30 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy volunteers on a motor response inhibition task (go/no go), along with verbal motor response inhibition (color-word interference) and measures of attention, sustained attention, processing speed, language, memory, visuospatial processing, and executive function including planning and verbal fluency. CD patients had greater impairments in commission errors on the go/no go task (P < .001) compared with healthy volunteers, which remained significant after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons and after controlling for attention, sustained attention, depression, and anxiety. There were no significant differences in other cognitive measures. We highlight a specific deficit in motor response inhibition that may play a role in impaired inhibition of unwanted movement such as the excessive and aberrant movements seen in motor conversion. Patients with nonepileptic seizures, a different form of conversion disorder, are commonly reported to have lower IQ and multiple cognitive deficits. Our results point toward potential differences between conversion disorder subgroups. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society. Copyright © 2013 Movement Disorder Society.

  14. Stereotypic movement disorder: easily missed.

    PubMed

    Freeman, Roger D; Soltanifar, Atefeh; Baer, Susan

    2010-08-01

    To expand the understanding of stereotypic movement disorder (SMD) and its differentiation from tics and autistic stereotypies. Forty-two children (31 males, mean age 6y 3mo, SD 2y 8mo; 11 females, mean age 6y 7mo, SD 1y 9mo) consecutively diagnosed with SMD, without-self-injurious behavior, intellectual disability, sensory impairment, or an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), were assessed in a neuropsychiatry clinic. A list of probe questions on the nature of the stereotypy was administered to parents (and to children if developmentally ready). Questionnaires administered included the Stereotypy Severity Scale, Short Sensory Profile, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Repetitive Behavior Scale--Revised, and the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire. The stereotyped movement patterns were directly observed and in some cases further documented by video recordings made by parents. The probe questions were used again on follow-up at a mean age of 10 years 7 months (SD 4y 4mo). Mean age at onset was 17 months. Males exceeded females by 3:1. Family history of a pattern of SMD was reported in 13 and neuropsychiatric comorbidity in 30 (attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder in 16, tics in 18, and developmental coordination disorder in 16). Obsessive-compulsive disorder occurred in only two. The Short Sensory Profile correlated with comorbidity (p<0.001), the Stereotypy Severity Scale (p=0.009), and the Repetitive Behavior Scale (p<0.001); the last correlated with the Stereotypy Severity Scale (p=0.001). Children (but not their parents) liked their movements, which were usually associated with excitement or imaginative play. Mean length of follow-up was 4 years 8 months (SD 2y 10mo). Of the 39 children followed for longer than 6 months, the behavior stopped or was gradually shaped so as to occur primarily privately in 25. Misdiagnosis was common: 26 were initially referred as tics, 10 as ASD, five as compulsions, and one as epilepsy. Co-occurring facial

  15. Gender differences in workers with identical repetitive industrial tasks: exposure and musculoskeletal disorders.

    PubMed

    Nordander, Catarina; Ohlsson, Kerstina; Balogh, Istvan; Hansson, Gert-Ake; Axmon, Anna; Persson, Roger; Skerfving, Staffan

    2008-08-01

    For unknown reasons, females run a higher risk than males of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether male and female workers, with identical repetitive work tasks, differ concerning risk of disorders, physical or psychosocial exposures. Employees in two industries were studied; one rubber manufacturing and one mechanical assembly plant. These industries were selected since in both, large groups of males and females worked side by side performing identical repetitive work tasks. Physical exposure was measured by technical equipment. Postures and movements were registered by inclinometry for the head and upper arms, and by electrogoniometry for the wrists. Muscular activity (muscular rest and %max) was registered by surface electromyography for m. trapezius and the forearm extensors (18 males and 19 females). Psychosocial work environment was evaluated by the demand-control-support model (85 males and 138 females). Musculoskeletal disorders were assessed (105 males and 172 females), by interview (last 7-days complaints), and by physical examination (diagnoses). Concerning physical exposure, females showed higher muscular activity related to maximal voluntary contractions [(%MVE); m. trapezius: females 18 (SD 9.2), males 12 (SD 4.3); forearm extensors: females 39 (SD 11), males 27 (SD 10), right side, 90th percentile]. Working postures and movements were similar between genders. Also, concerning psychosocial work environment, no significant gender differences were found. Females had higher prevalences of disorders [complaints: age-adjusted prevalence odds ratio (POR) 2.3 (95% CI 1.3-3.8) for neck/shoulders, 2.4 (1.4-4.0) for elbows/hands; diagnoses: neck/shoulder 1.9 (1.1-3.6), elbows/hands 4.1 (1.2-9.3)]. In 225 workers, PORs were adjusted for household work, personal recovery and exercise, which only slightly affected the risk estimates. In identical work tasks, females showed substantially higher muscular activity in

  16. Prevalence of neuroleptic-induced movement disorders in chronic schizophrenia inpatients.

    PubMed

    Janno, Sven; Holi, Matti; Tuisku, Katinka; Wahlbeck, Kristian

    2004-01-01

    Since most of the world's schizophrenia patients are treated with conventional antipsychotics, the authors evaluated various methods for establishing the prevalence of neuroleptic-induced movement disorders in these patients. DSM-IV criteria and established score thresholds on a movement disorder rating scale were used to identify cases of neuroleptic-induced movement disorder in a representative Estonian patient sample of 99 chronic institutionalized schizophrenia patients, 18-65 years old, treated with conventional neuroleptics (79.8%) or clozapine (20.2%). Neuroleptic-induced movement disorders according to DSM-IV criteria were found in 61.6% of the group: 31.3% had neuroleptic-induced akathisia, 23.2% had neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism, and 32.3% had neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia. Prevalence rates for akathisia and tardive dyskinesia were similar when either DSM-IV criteria or rating scale scores were used, but the prevalence rate for parkinsonism was much lower per DSM-IV criteria than according to rating scale score. Nearly two-thirds of chronic schizophrenia patients suffered from a neuroleptic-induced movement disorder. Globally, extrapyramidal adverse effects still impose a huge burden on the majority of neuroleptic-treated individuals with schizophrenia. The discrepancy between the standard identification methods for neuroleptic-induced movement disorder indicate the need for further research.

  17. Using eye movements as an index of implicit face recognition in autism spectrum disorder.

    PubMed

    Hedley, Darren; Young, Robyn; Brewer, Neil

    2012-10-01

    Individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically show impairment on face recognition tasks. Performance has usually been assessed using overt, explicit recognition tasks. Here, a complementary method involving eye tracking was used to examine implicit face recognition in participants with ASD and in an intelligence quotient-matched non-ASD control group. Differences in eye movement indices between target and foil faces were used as an indicator of implicit face recognition. Explicit face recognition was assessed using old-new discrimination and reaction time measures. Stimuli were faces of studied (target) or unfamiliar (foil) persons. Target images at test were either identical to the images presented at study or altered by changing the lighting, pose, or by masking with visual noise. Participants with ASD performed worse than controls on the explicit recognition task. Eye movement-based measures, however, indicated that implicit recognition may not be affected to the same degree as explicit recognition. Autism Res 2012, 5: 363-379. © 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Task-specific image partitioning.

    PubMed

    Kim, Sungwoong; Nowozin, Sebastian; Kohli, Pushmeet; Yoo, Chang D

    2013-02-01

    Image partitioning is an important preprocessing step for many of the state-of-the-art algorithms used for performing high-level computer vision tasks. Typically, partitioning is conducted without regard to the task in hand. We propose a task-specific image partitioning framework to produce a region-based image representation that will lead to a higher task performance than that reached using any task-oblivious partitioning framework and existing supervised partitioning framework, albeit few in number. The proposed method partitions the image by means of correlation clustering, maximizing a linear discriminant function defined over a superpixel graph. The parameters of the discriminant function that define task-specific similarity/dissimilarity among superpixels are estimated based on structured support vector machine (S-SVM) using task-specific training data. The S-SVM learning leads to a better generalization ability while the construction of the superpixel graph used to define the discriminant function allows a rich set of features to be incorporated to improve discriminability and robustness. We evaluate the learned task-aware partitioning algorithms on three benchmark datasets. Results show that task-aware partitioning leads to better labeling performance than the partitioning computed by the state-of-the-art general-purpose and supervised partitioning algorithms. We believe that the task-specific image partitioning paradigm is widely applicable to improving performance in high-level image understanding tasks.

  19. Bi-Stability of Movement Coordination as a Function of Skill Level and Task Difficulty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Yeou-Teh; Mayer-Kress, Gottfried; Newell, Karl M.

    2010-01-01

    This study investigated whether the level of practice interacts with the initial conditions (here manipulated as preparatory movements) and task difficulty (ball angular velocity and friction) in determining the stability of movement coordination for a roller ball motor task. Practice level and task difficulty were manipulated as two control…

  20. Functional neurosurgery for movement disorders: a historical perspective.

    PubMed

    Benabid, Alim Louis; Chabardes, Stephan; Torres, Napoleon; Piallat, Brigitte; Krack, Paul; Fraix, Valerie; Pollak, Pierre

    2009-01-01

    Since the 1960s, deep brain stimulation and spinal cord stimulation at low frequency (30 Hz) have been used to treat intractable pain of various origins. For this purpose, specific hardware have been designed, including deep brain electrodes, extensions, and implantable programmable generators (IPGs). In the meantime, movement disorders, and particularly parkinsonian and essential tremors, were treated by electrolytic or mechanic lesions in various targets of the basal ganglia, particularly in the thalamus and in the internal pallidum. The advent in the 1960s of levodopa, as well as the side effects and complications of ablative surgery (e.g., thalamotomy and pallidotomy), has sent functional neurosurgery of movement disorders to oblivion. In 1987, the serendipitous discovery of the effect of high-frequency stimulation (HFS), mimicking lesions, allowed the revival of the surgery of movement disorders by stimulation of the thalamus, which treated tremors with limited morbidity, and adaptable and reversible results. The stability along time of these effects allowed extending it to new targets suggested by basic research in monkeys. The HFS of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has profoundly challenged the practice of functional surgery as the effect on the triad of dopaminergic symptoms was very significant, allowing to decrease the drug dosage and therefore a decrease of their complications, the levodopa-induced dyskinesias. In the meantime, based on the results of previous basic research in various fields, HFS has been progressively extended to potentially treat epilepsy and, more recently, psychiatric disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorders, Gilles de la Tourette tics, and severe depression. Similarly, suggested by the observation of changes in PET scan, applications have been extended to cluster headaches by stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus and even more recently, to obesity and drug addiction. In the field of movement disorders, it has become

  1. Eye movement difficulties in autism spectrum disorder: implications for implicit contextual learning.

    PubMed

    Kourkoulou, Anastasia; Kuhn, Gustav; Findlay, John M; Leekam, Susan R

    2013-06-01

    It is widely accepted that we use contextual information to guide our gaze when searching for an object. People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also utilise contextual information in this way; yet, their visual search in tasks of this kind is much slower compared with people without ASD. The aim of the current study was to explore the reason for this by measuring eye movements. Eye movement analyses revealed that the slowing of visual search was not caused by making a greater number of fixations. Instead, participants in the ASD group were slower to launch their first saccade, and the duration of their fixations was longer. These results indicate that slowed search in ASD in contextual learning tasks is not due to differences in the spatial allocation of attention but due to temporal delays in the initial-reflexive orienting of attention and subsequent-focused attention. These results have broader implications for understanding the unusual attention profile of individuals with ASD and how their attention may be shaped by learning. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. The improvement of movement and speech during rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder in multiple system atrophy.

    PubMed

    De Cock, Valérie Cochen; Debs, Rachel; Oudiette, Delphine; Leu, Smaranda; Radji, Fatai; Tiberge, Michel; Yu, Huan; Bayard, Sophie; Roze, Emmanuel; Vidailhet, Marie; Dauvilliers, Yves; Rascol, Olivier; Arnulf, Isabelle

    2011-03-01

    Multiple system atrophy is an atypical parkinsonism characterized by severe motor disabilities that are poorly levodopa responsive. Most patients develop rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. Because parkinsonism is absent during rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder in patients with Parkinson's disease, we studied the movements of patients with multiple system atrophy during rapid eye movement sleep. Forty-nine non-demented patients with multiple system atrophy and 49 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were interviewed along with their 98 bed partners using a structured questionnaire. They rated the quality of movements, vocal and facial expressions during rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder as better than, equal to or worse than the same activities in an awake state. Sleep and movements were monitored using video-polysomnography in 22/49 patients with multiple system atrophy and in 19/49 patients with Parkinson's disease. These recordings were analysed for the presence of parkinsonism and cerebellar syndrome during rapid eye movement sleep movements. Clinical rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder was observed in 43/49 (88%) patients with multiple system atrophy. Reports from the 31/43 bed partners who were able to evaluate movements during sleep indicate that 81% of the patients showed some form of improvement during rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. These included improved movement (73% of patients: faster, 67%; stronger, 52%; and smoother, 26%), improved speech (59% of patients: louder, 55%; more intelligible, 17%; and better articulated, 36%) and normalized facial expression (50% of patients). The rate of improvement was higher in Parkinson's disease than in multiple system atrophy, but no further difference was observed between the two forms of multiple system atrophy (predominant parkinsonism versus cerebellar syndrome). Video-monitored movements during rapid eye movement sleep in patients with multiple system

  3. [Deep brain stimulation in the treatment of movement disorders].

    PubMed

    Goto, Satoshi

    2007-11-01

    The introduction of deep brain stimulation (DBS) was a historical step forward for the treatment of advanced and medically intractable movement disorders that include Parkinson's disease, dystonias, essential tremor, and Holmes' tremor. DBS is able to modulate the target region electrically in a reversible and adjustable fashion in contrast to an irreversible and destructive lesioning procedure. In the treatment of movement disorders, the potential targets are the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus (Vim), globus pallidus internus (GPi), subthalamic nucleus (STN), pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), and thalamic Vo-complex nucleus. With the development of DBS technology and stereotactic neurosurgical techniques, its therapeutic efficacy has been increased while reducing surgical complications. DBS has become an established therapy for disabling movement disorders and is currently being used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders.

  4. Changes in the Spinal Neural Circuits are Dependent on the Movement Speed of the Visuomotor Task

    PubMed Central

    Kubota, Shinji; Hirano, Masato; Koizume, Yoshiki; Tanabe, Shigeo; Funase, Kozo

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that spinal neural circuits are modulated by motor skill training. However, the effects of task movement speed on changes in spinal neural circuits have not been clarified. The aim of this research was to investigate whether spinal neural circuits were affected by task movement speed. Thirty-eight healthy subjects participated in this study. In experiment 1, the effects of task movement speed on the spinal neural circuits were examined. Eighteen subjects performed a visuomotor task involving ankle muscle slow (nine subjects) or fast (nine subjects) movement speed. Another nine subjects performed a non-visuomotor task (controls) in fast movement speed. The motor task training lasted for 20 min. The amounts of D1 inhibition and reciprocal Ia inhibition were measured using H-relfex condition-test paradigm and recorded before, and at 5, 15, and 30 min after the training session. In experiment 2, using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), the effects of corticospinal descending inputs on the presynaptic inhibitory pathway were examined before and after performing either a visuomotor (eight subjects) or a control task (eight subjects). All measurements were taken under resting conditions. The amount of D1 inhibition increased after the visuomotor task irrespective of movement speed (P < 0.01). The amount of reciprocal Ia inhibition increased with fast movement speed conditioning (P < 0.01), but was unchanged by slow movement speed conditioning. These changes lasted up to 15 min in D1 inhibition and 5 min in reciprocal Ia inhibition after the training session. The control task did not induce changes in D1 inhibition and reciprocal Ia inhibition. The TMS conditioned inhibitory effects of presynaptic inhibitory pathways decreased following visuomotor tasks (P < 0.01). The size of test H-reflex was almost the same size throughout experiments. The results suggest that supraspinal descending inputs for controlling joint movement are responsible

  5. Diagnosis and treatment of impulse control disorders in patients with movement disorders

    PubMed Central

    Mestre, Tiago A.; Strafella, Antonio P.; Thomsen, Teri; Voon, Valerie

    2013-01-01

    Impulse control disorders are a psychiatric condition characterized by the failure to resist an impulsive act or behavior that may be harmful to self or others. In movement disorders, impulse control disorders are associated with dopaminergic treatment, notably dopamine agonists (DAs). Impulse control disorders have been studied extensively in Parkinson’s disease, but are also recognized in restless leg syndrome and atypical Parkinsonian syndromes. Epidemiological studies suggest younger age, male sex, greater novelty seeking, impulsivity, depression and premorbid impulse control disorders as the most consistent risk factors. Such patients may warrant special monitoring after starting treatment with a DA. Various individual screening tools are available for people without Parkinson’s disease. The Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease has been developed specifically for Parkinson’s disease. The best treatment for impulse control disorders is prevention. However, after the development of impulse control disorders, the mainstay intervention is to reduce or discontinue the offending anti-Parkinsonian medication. In refractory cases, other pharmacological interventions are available, including neuroleptics, antiepileptics, amantadine, antiandrogens, lithium and opioid antagonists. Unfortunately, their use is only supported by case reports, small case series or open-label clinical studies. Prospective, controlled studies are warranted. Ongoing investigations include naltrexone and nicotine. PMID:23634190

  6. Diagnosis and treatment of impulse control disorders in patients with movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Mestre, Tiago A; Strafella, Antonio P; Thomsen, Teri; Voon, Valerie; Miyasaki, Janis

    2013-05-01

    Impulse control disorders are a psychiatric condition characterized by the failure to resist an impulsive act or behavior that may be harmful to self or others. In movement disorders, impulse control disorders are associated with dopaminergic treatment, notably dopamine agonists (DAs). Impulse control disorders have been studied extensively in Parkinson's disease, but are also recognized in restless leg syndrome and atypical Parkinsonian syndromes. Epidemiological studies suggest younger age, male sex, greater novelty seeking, impulsivity, depression and premorbid impulse control disorders as the most consistent risk factors. Such patients may warrant special monitoring after starting treatment with a DA. Various individual screening tools are available for people without Parkinson's disease. The Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson's Disease has been developed specifically for Parkinson's disease. The best treatment for impulse control disorders is prevention. However, after the development of impulse control disorders, the mainstay intervention is to reduce or discontinue the offending anti-Parkinsonian medication. In refractory cases, other pharmacological interventions are available, including neuroleptics, antiepileptics, amantadine, antiandrogens, lithium and opioid antagonists. Unfortunately, their use is only supported by case reports, small case series or open-label clinical studies. Prospective, controlled studies are warranted. Ongoing investigations include naltrexone and nicotine.

  7. Movement disorders: role of imaging in diagnosis.

    PubMed

    Mascalchi, Mario; Vella, Alessandra; Ceravolo, Roberto

    2012-02-01

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have a considerable role in the diagnosis of the single patient with movement disorders. Conventional MRI demonstrates symptomatic causes of parkinsonism but does not show any specific finding in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, SPECT using tracers of the dopamine transporter (DAT) demonstrates an asymmetric decrease of the uptake in the putamen and caudate from the earliest clinical stages. In other degenerative forms of parkinsonism, including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multisystem atrophy (MSA), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD), MRI reveals characteristic patterns of regional atrophy combined with signal changes or microstructural changes in the basal ganglia, pons, middle and superior cerebellar peduncles, and cerebral subcortical white matter. SPECT demonstrates a decreased uptake of tracers of the dopamine D2 receptors in the striata of patients with PSP and MSA, which is not observed in early PD. MRI also significantly contributes to the diagnosis of some inherited hyperkinetic conditions including neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation and fragile-X tremor/ataxia syndrome by revealing characteristic symmetric signal changes in the basal ganglia and middle cerebellar peduncles, respectively. A combination of the clinical features with MRI and SPECT is recommended for optimization of the diagnostic algorithm in movement disorders. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. An investigation into the relationship between vigabatrin, movement disorders, and brain magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities in children with infantile spasms.

    PubMed

    Fong, Choong Yi; Osborne, John P; Edwards, Stuart W; Hemingway, Cheryl; Hancock, Eleanor; Johnson, Anthony L; Kennedy, Colin R; Kneen, Rachel; Likeman, Marcus; Lux, Andrew L; Mordekar, Santosh R; Murugan, Velayutham; Newton, Richard W; Pike, Michael; Quinn, Michael; Spinty, Stefan; Vassallo, Grace; Verity, Christopher M; Whitney, Andrea; O'Callaghan, Finbar J K

    2013-09-01

    We aimed to investigate the relationship between movement disorders, changes on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and vigabatrin therapy in children with infantile spasms. Retrospective review and brain MRI analysis of children enrolled in the International Collaborative Infantile Spasms Study (ICISS) who developed a movement disorder on vigabatrin therapy. Comparisons were made with controls within ICISS who had no movement disorder. Ten of 124 infants had a movement disorder and in eight it had developed on vigabatrin therapy. Two had a movement disorder that resolved on dose-reduction of vigabatrin, one had improvement on withdrawing vigabatrin, two had resolution without any dose change, and in three it persisted despite vigabatrin withdrawal. The typical brain MRI changes associated with vigabatrin therapy were noted in two infants. Ten control infants were identified. Typical MRI changes noted with vigabatrin were noted in three controls. It is possible that in two out of eight cases, vigabatrin was associated with the development of a movement disorder. In six out of eight cases a causal relationship was less plausible. The majority of infants treated with vigabatrin did not develop a movement disorder. MRI changes associated with vigabatrin do not appear to be specifically related to the movement disorder. © 2013 Mac Keith Press.

  9. Eye movements reveal sexually dimorphic deficits in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

    PubMed Central

    Paolozza, Angelina; Munn, Rebecca; Munoz, Douglas P.; Reynolds, James N.

    2015-01-01

    Background: We examined the accuracy and characteristics of saccadic eye movements in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) compared with typically developing control children. Previous studies have found that children with FASD produce saccades that are quantifiably different from controls. Additionally, animal studies have found sex-based differences for behavioral effects after prenatal alcohol exposure. Therefore, we hypothesized that eye movement measures will show sexually dimorphic results. Methods: Children (aged 5–18 years) with FASD (n = 71) and typically developing controls (n = 113) performed a visually-guided saccade task. Saccade metrics and behavior were analyzed for sex and group differences. Results: Female control participants had greater amplitude saccades than control males or females with FASD. Accuracy was significantly poorer in the FASD group, especially in males, which introduced significantly greater variability in the data. Therefore, we conducted additional analyses including only those trials in which the first saccade successfully reached the target within a ± 1° window. In this restricted amplitude dataset, the females with FASD made saccades with significantly lower velocity and longer duration, whereas the males with FASD did not differ from the control group. Additionally, the mean and peak deceleration were selectively decreased in the females with FASD. Conclusions: These data support the hypothesis that children with FASD exhibit specific deficits in eye movement control and sensory-motor integration associated with cerebellar and/or brain stem circuits. Moreover, prenatal alcohol exposure may have a sexually dimorphic impact on eye movement metrics, with males and females exhibiting differential patterns of deficit. PMID:25814922

  10. Effects of cerebellar neuromodulation in movement disorders: A systematic review.

    PubMed

    França, Carina; de Andrade, Daniel Ciampi; Teixeira, Manoel Jacobsen; Galhardoni, Ricardo; Silva, Valquiria; Barbosa, Egberto Reis; Cury, Rubens Gisbert

    The cerebellum is involved in the pathophysiology of many movement disorders and its importance in the field of neuromodulation is growing. To review the current evidence for cerebellar modulation in movement disorders and its safety profile. Eligible studies were identified after a systematic literature review of the effects of cerebellar modulation in cerebellar ataxia, Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET), dystonia and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Neuromodulation techniques included transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). The changes in motor scores and the incidence of adverse events after the stimulation were reviewed. Thirty-four studies were included in the systematic review, comprising 431 patients. The evaluation after stimulation ranged from immediately after to 12 months after. Neuromodulation techniques improved cerebellar ataxia due to vascular or degenerative etiologies (TMS, tDCS and DBS), dyskinesias in PD patients (TMS), gross upper limb movement in PD patients (tDCS), tremor in ET (TMS and tDCS), cervical dystonia (TMS and tDCS) and dysarthria in PSP patients (TMS). All the neuromodulation techniques were safe, since only three studies reported the existence of side effects (slight headache after TMS, local skin erythema after tDCS and infectious complication after DBS). Eleven studies did not mention if adverse events occurred. Cerebellar modulation can improve specific symptoms in some movement disorders and is a safe and well-tolerated procedure. Further studies are needed to lay the groundwork for new researches in this promising target. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Quantifying Motor Impairment in Movement Disorders.

    PubMed

    FitzGerald, James J; Lu, Zhongjiao; Jareonsettasin, Prem; Antoniades, Chrystalina A

    2018-01-01

    Until recently the assessment of many movement disorders has relied on clinical rating scales that despite careful design are inherently subjective and non-linear. This makes accurate and truly observer-independent quantification difficult and limits the use of sensitive parametric statistical methods. At last, devices capable of measuring neurological problems quantitatively are becoming readily available. Examples include the use of oculometers to measure eye movements and accelerometers to measure tremor. Many applications are being developed for use on smartphones. The benefits include not just more accurate disease quantification, but also consistency of data for longitudinal studies, accurate stratification of patients for entry into trials, and the possibility of automated data capture for remote follow-up. In this mini review, we will look at movement disorders with a particular focus on Parkinson's disease, describe some of the limitations of existing clinical evaluation tools, and illustrate the ways in which objective metrics have already been successful.

  12. Modeling task-specific neuronal ensembles improves decoding of grasp

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, Ryan J.; Soares, Alcimar B.; Rouse, Adam G.; Schieber, Marc H.; Thakor, Nitish V.

    2018-06-01

    Objective. Dexterous movement involves the activation and coordination of networks of neuronal populations across multiple cortical regions. Attempts to model firing of individual neurons commonly treat the firing rate as directly modulating with motor behavior. However, motor behavior may additionally be associated with modulations in the activity and functional connectivity of neurons in a broader ensemble. Accounting for variations in neural ensemble connectivity may provide additional information about the behavior being performed. Approach. In this study, we examined neural ensemble activity in primary motor cortex (M1) and premotor cortex (PM) of two male rhesus monkeys during performance of a center-out reach, grasp and manipulate task. We constructed point process encoding models of neuronal firing that incorporated task-specific variations in the baseline firing rate as well as variations in functional connectivity with the neural ensemble. Models were evaluated both in terms of their encoding capabilities and their ability to properly classify the grasp being performed. Main results. Task-specific ensemble models correctly predicted the performed grasp with over 95% accuracy and were shown to outperform models of neuronal activity that assume only a variable baseline firing rate. Task-specific ensemble models exhibited superior decoding performance in 82% of units in both monkeys (p  <  0.01). Inclusion of ensemble activity also broadly improved the ability of models to describe observed spiking. Encoding performance of task-specific ensemble models, measured by spike timing predictability, improved upon baseline models in 62% of units. Significance. These results suggest that additional discriminative information about motor behavior found in the variations in functional connectivity of neuronal ensembles located in motor-related cortical regions is relevant to decode complex tasks such as grasping objects, and may serve the basis for more

  13. Biometric recognition via texture features of eye movement trajectories in a visual searching task.

    PubMed

    Li, Chunyong; Xue, Jiguo; Quan, Cheng; Yue, Jingwei; Zhang, Chenggang

    2018-01-01

    Biometric recognition technology based on eye-movement dynamics has been in development for more than ten years. Different visual tasks, feature extraction and feature recognition methods are proposed to improve the performance of eye movement biometric system. However, the correct identification and verification rates, especially in long-term experiments, as well as the effects of visual tasks and eye trackers' temporal and spatial resolution are still the foremost considerations in eye movement biometrics. With a focus on these issues, we proposed a new visual searching task for eye movement data collection and a new class of eye movement features for biometric recognition. In order to demonstrate the improvement of this visual searching task being used in eye movement biometrics, three other eye movement feature extraction methods were also tested on our eye movement datasets. Compared with the original results, all three methods yielded better results as expected. In addition, the biometric performance of these four feature extraction methods was also compared using the equal error rate (EER) and Rank-1 identification rate (Rank-1 IR), and the texture features introduced in this paper were ultimately shown to offer some advantages with regard to long-term stability and robustness over time and spatial precision. Finally, the results of different combinations of these methods with a score-level fusion method indicated that multi-biometric methods perform better in most cases.

  14. Biometric recognition via texture features of eye movement trajectories in a visual searching task

    PubMed Central

    Li, Chunyong; Xue, Jiguo; Quan, Cheng; Yue, Jingwei

    2018-01-01

    Biometric recognition technology based on eye-movement dynamics has been in development for more than ten years. Different visual tasks, feature extraction and feature recognition methods are proposed to improve the performance of eye movement biometric system. However, the correct identification and verification rates, especially in long-term experiments, as well as the effects of visual tasks and eye trackers’ temporal and spatial resolution are still the foremost considerations in eye movement biometrics. With a focus on these issues, we proposed a new visual searching task for eye movement data collection and a new class of eye movement features for biometric recognition. In order to demonstrate the improvement of this visual searching task being used in eye movement biometrics, three other eye movement feature extraction methods were also tested on our eye movement datasets. Compared with the original results, all three methods yielded better results as expected. In addition, the biometric performance of these four feature extraction methods was also compared using the equal error rate (EER) and Rank-1 identification rate (Rank-1 IR), and the texture features introduced in this paper were ultimately shown to offer some advantages with regard to long-term stability and robustness over time and spatial precision. Finally, the results of different combinations of these methods with a score-level fusion method indicated that multi-biometric methods perform better in most cases. PMID:29617383

  15. Cortical representation of facial and tongue movements: a task functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

    PubMed

    Xiao, Fu-Long; Gao, Pei-Yi; Qian, Tian-Yi; Sui, Bin-Bin; Xue, Jing; Zhou, Jian; Lin, Yan

    2017-05-01

    Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) mapping can present the activated cortical area during movement, while little is known about precise location in facial and tongue movements. To investigate the representation of facial and tongue movements by task fMRI. Twenty right-handed healthy subjects were underwent block design task fMRI examination. Task movements included lip pursing, cheek bulging, grinning and vertical tongue excursion. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM8) was applied to analysis the data. One-sample t-test was used to calculate the common activation area between facial and tongue movements. Also, paired t-test was used to test for areas of over- or underactivation in tongue movement compared with each group of facial movements. The common areas within facial and tongue movements suggested the similar motor circuits of activation in both movements. Prior activation in tongue movement was situated laterally and inferiorly in sensorimotor area relative to facial movements. Prior activation of tongue movement was investigated in left superior parietal lobe relative to lip pursing. Also, prior activation in bilateral cuneus lobe in grinning compared with tongue movement was detected. © 2015 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Principles and approaches to the treatment of immune-mediated movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Mohammad, Shekeeb S; Dale, Russell C

    2018-03-01

    Immune mediated movement disorders include movement disorders in the context of autoimmune encephalitis such as anti-NMDAR encephalitis, post-infectious autoimmune movement disorders such as Sydenham chorea, paraneoplastic autoimmune movement disorders such as opsoclonus myoclonus ataxia syndrome, and infection triggered conditions such as paediatric acute neuropsychiatric syndrome. This review focuses on the approach to treatment of immune mediated movement disorders, which requires an understanding of the immunopathogenesis, whether the disease is destructive or 'altering', and the natural history of disease. Factors that can influence outcome include the severity of disease, the delay before starting therapy, use of multimodal therapy and whether the course is monophasic or relapsing. Although the four main conditions listed above have different pathophysiological processes, there are general themes that broadly apply including: early diagnosis and treatment is better, minimise the severity of disease, escalate treatment if the patient is not responding to initial treatments, and minimise relapse. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  17. Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders of Basal Ganglia Origin: Restoring Function or Functionality?

    PubMed

    Wichmann, Thomas; DeLong, Mahlon R

    2016-04-01

    Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is highly effective for both hypo- and hyperkinetic movement disorders of basal ganglia origin. The clinical use of DBS is, in part, empiric, based on the experience with prior surgical ablative therapies for these disorders, and, in part, driven by scientific discoveries made decades ago. In this review, we consider anatomical and functional concepts of the basal ganglia relevant to our understanding of DBS mechanisms, as well as our current understanding of the pathophysiology of two of the most commonly DBS-treated conditions, Parkinson's disease and dystonia. Finally, we discuss the proposed mechanism(s) of action of DBS in restoring function in patients with movement disorders. The signs and symptoms of the various disorders appear to result from signature disordered activity in the basal ganglia output, which disrupts the activity in thalamocortical and brainstem networks. The available evidence suggests that the effects of DBS are strongly dependent on targeting sensorimotor portions of specific nodes of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical motor circuit, that is, the subthalamic nucleus and the internal segment of the globus pallidus. There is little evidence to suggest that DBS in patients with movement disorders restores normal basal ganglia functions (e.g., their role in movement or reinforcement learning). Instead, it appears that high-frequency DBS replaces the abnormal basal ganglia output with a more tolerable pattern, which helps to restore the functionality of downstream networks.

  18. Update on the Use of Botulinum Toxin Therapy for Focal and Task-Specific Dystonias.

    PubMed

    Lungu, Codrin; Ahmad, Omar F

    2016-02-01

    Focal dystonia is defined by anatomical distribution and represents a distinct entity from generalized dystonia. Task-specific dystonia occurs in the context of specific patterns of movement. Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) injections are the treatment of choice in most cases. Several formulations are available; the approved indications, dosing, and some administration details, differ between them. The major forms of focal and task-specific dystonia are reviewed, along with the evidence for BoNT therapy, the expected benefit and side effects, and practical points guiding the injections. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

  19. Paraneoplastic movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Mehta, Shyamal H; Morgan, John C; Sethi, Kapil D

    2009-07-01

    Neurologic paraneoplastic syndromes (NPSs) result from damage to the nervous system due to the remote effects of cancer not related to metastasis, infection, or metabolic derangements. NPSs are rare, affecting 1 in 10,000 patients with cancer. Pathogenesis is likely related to the immune mechanisms: normal neural tissue is mistakenly attacked due to the similarity in the onconeural antigens expressed by the tumor cells. Among the various "classic" and other NPSs, this review focuses on paraneoplastic movement disorders, including ataxia due to cerebellar degeneration, stiff-person syndrome, opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome, chorea, parkinsonism, and tremor. The recently described syndrome of paraneoplastic anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis is also included, given that these patients have complex movements such as stereotypies and dyskinesias in addition to psychiatric symptoms, altered sensorium, and other neurologic signs. Although variable, treatment and prognosis of NPSs rely heavily on treatment of the underlying malignancy and immunotherapy.

  20. Using dual tasks to test immediate transfer of training between naturalistic movements: a proof-of-principle study.

    PubMed

    Schaefer, Sydney Y; Lang, Catherine E

    2012-01-01

    Theories of motor learning predict that training a movement reduces the amount of attention needed for its performance (i.e., more automatic). If training one movement transfers, then the amount of attention needed for performing a second movement should also be reduced, as measured under dual task conditions. The authors' purpose was to test whether dual task paradigms are feasible for detecting transfer of training between two naturalistic movements. Immediately following motor training, subjects improved performance of a second untrained movement under single and dual task conditions. Subjects with no training did not. Improved performance in the untrained movement was likely due to transfer, and suggests that dual tasks may be feasible for detecting transfer between naturalistic actions.

  1. Monkeys time their pauses of movement and not their movement-kinematics during a synchronization-continuation rhythmic task.

    PubMed

    Donnet, Sophie; Bartolo, Ramon; Fernandes, José Maria; Cunha, João Paulo Silva; Prado, Luis; Merchant, Hugo

    2014-05-01

    A critical question in tapping behavior is to understand whether the temporal control is exerted on the duration and trajectory of the downward-upward hand movement or on the pause between hand movements. In the present study, we determined the duration of both the movement execution and pauses of monkeys performing a synchronization-continuation task (SCT), using the speed profile of their tapping behavior. We found a linear increase in the variance of pause-duration as a function of interval, while the variance of the motor implementation was relatively constant across intervals. In fact, 96% of the variability of the duration of a complete tapping cycle (pause + movement) was due to the variability of the pause duration. In addition, we performed a Bayesian model selection to determine the effect of interval duration (450-1,000 ms), serial-order (1-6 produced intervals), task phase (sensory cued or internally driven), and marker modality (auditory or visual) on the duration of the movement-pause and tapping movement. The results showed that the most important parameter used to successfully perform the SCT was the control of the pause duration. We also found that the kinematics of the tapping movements was concordant with a stereotyped ballistic control of the hand pressing the push-button. The present findings support the idea that monkeys used an explicit timing strategy to perform the SCT, where a dedicated timing mechanism controlled the duration of the pauses of movement, while also triggered the execution of fixed movements across each interval of the rhythmic sequence. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.

  2. Functional magnetic resonance imaging exploration of combined hand and speech movements in Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Pinto, Serge; Mancini, Laura; Jahanshahi, Marjan; Thornton, John S; Tripoliti, Elina; Yousry, Tarek A; Limousin, Patricia

    2011-10-01

    Among the repertoire of motor functions, although hand movement and speech production tasks have been investigated widely by functional neuroimaging, paradigms combining both movements have been studied less so. Such paradigms are of particular interest in Parkinson's disease, in which patients have specific difficulties performing two movements simultaneously. In 9 unmedicated patients with Parkinson's disease and 15 healthy control subjects, externally cued tasks (i.e., hand movement, speech production, and combined hand movement and speech production) were performed twice in a random order and functional magnetic resonance imaging detected cerebral activations, compared to the rest. F-statistics tested within-group (significant activations at P values < 0.05, familywise error corrected), between-group, and between-task comparisons (regional activations significant at P values < 0.001, uncorrected, with cluster size > 10 voxels). For control subjects, the combined task activations comprised the sum of those obtained during hand movement and speech production performed separately, reflecting the neural correlates of performing movements sharing similar programming modalities. In patients with Parkinson's disease, only activations underlying hand movement were observed during the combined task. We interpreted this phenomenon as patients' potential inability to recruit facilitatory activations while performing two movements simultaneously. This lost capacity could be related to a functional prioritization of one movement (i.e., hand movement), in comparison with the other (i.e., speech production). Our observation could also reflect the inability of patients with Parkinson's disease to intrinsically engage the motor coordination necessary to perform a combined task. Copyright © 2011 Movement Disorder Society.

  3. Binocular vision and eye movement disorders in older adults.

    PubMed

    Leat, Susan J; Chan, Lisa Li-Li; Maharaj, Priya-Devi; Hrynchak, Patricia K; Mittelstaedt, Andrea; Machan, Carolyn M; Irving, Elizabeth L

    2013-05-31

    To determine the prevalence of binocular vision (BV) and eye movement disorders in a clinic population of older adults. Retrospective clinic data were abstracted from files of 500 older patients seen at the University of Waterloo Optometry Clinic over a 1-year period. Stratified sampling gave equal numbers of patients in the 60 to 69, 70 to 79, and 80+ age groups. Data included age, general and ocular history and symptoms, use of antidepressants, a habit of smoking, refraction, visual acuity, BV and eye movement status for the most recent full oculo-visual assessment, and an assessment 10 years prior. The prevalence of any BV or eye movement abnormal test (AT) result, defined as a test result outside the normal range, was determined. This included strabismus (any) or phoria; incomitancy; poor pursuits; and remote near point of convergence (NPC). The prevalence of significant BV disorders (diagnostic entities, i.e., a clinical condition that may need treatment and may have functional implications) was also determined. The prevalence of any BV or eye movement at was 41%, 44%, and 51% in the 60 to 69, 70 to 79, and 80+ age groups, respectively. These figures were lower for 10 years earlier: 31%, 36%, and 40% for ages 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70+, respectively. The prevalence of any BV or eye movement disorder was 27%, 30%, and 38% for the three age groups and 17%, 19%, and 24% for 10 years prior. Age and use of antidepressants most commonly predicted BV or eye movement AT or disorder. BV disorders are common among older adults.

  4. Fundamental Movement Skills and Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Staples, Kerri L.; Reid, Greg

    2010-01-01

    Delays and deficits may both contribute to atypical development of movement skills by children with ASD. Fundamental movement skills of 25 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (ages 9-12 years) were compared to three typically developing groups using the "Test of Gross Motor Development" ("TGMD-2"). The group matched on chronological age…

  5. Influence of social presence on eye movements in visual search tasks.

    PubMed

    Liu, Na; Yu, Ruifeng

    2017-12-01

    This study employed an eye-tracking technique to investigate the influence of social presence on eye movements in visual search tasks. A total of 20 male subjects performed visual search tasks in a 2 (target presence: present vs. absent) × 2 (task complexity: complex vs. simple) × 2 (social presence: alone vs. a human audience) within-subject experiment. Results indicated that the presence of an audience could evoke a social facilitation effect on response time in visual search tasks. Compared with working alone, the participants made fewer and shorter fixations, larger saccades and shorter scan path in simple search tasks and more and longer fixations, smaller saccades and longer scan path in complex search tasks when working with an audience. The saccade velocity and pupil diameter in the audience-present condition were larger than those in the working-alone condition. No significant change in target fixation number was observed between two social presence conditions. Practitioner Summary: This study employed an eye-tracking technique to examine the influence of social presence on eye movements in visual search tasks. Results clarified the variation mechanism and characteristics of oculomotor scanning induced by social presence in visual search.

  6. Eye movements and postural control in dyslexic children performing different visual tasks.

    PubMed

    Razuk, Milena; Barela, José Angelo; Peyre, Hugo; Gerard, Christophe Loic; Bucci, Maria Pia

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine eye movements and postural control performance among dyslexic children while reading a text and performing the Landolt reading task. Fifteen dyslexic and 15 non-dyslexic children were asked to stand upright while performing two experimental visual tasks: text reading and Landolt reading. In the text reading task, children were asked to silently read a text displayed on a monitor, while in the Landolt reading task, the letters in the text were replaced by closed circles and Landolt rings, and children were asked to scan each circle/ring in a reading-like fashion, from left to right, and to count the number of Landolt rings. Eye movements (Mobile T2®, SuriCog) and center of pressure excursions (Framiral®, Grasse, France) were recorded. Visual performance variables were total reading time, mean duration of fixation, number of pro- and retro-saccades, and amplitude of pro-saccades. Postural performance variable was the center of pressure area. The results showed that dyslexic children spent more time reading the text and had a longer duration of fixation than non-dyslexic children. However, no difference was observed between dyslexic and non-dyslexic children in the Landolt reading task. Dyslexic children performed a higher number of pro- and retro-saccades than non-dyslexic children in both text reading and Landolt reading tasks. Dyslexic children had smaller pro-saccade amplitude than non-dyslexic children in the text reading task. Finally, postural performance was poorer in dyslexic children than in non-dyslexic children. Reading difficulties in dyslexic children are related to eye movement strategies required to scan and obtain lexical and semantic meaning. However, postural control performance, which was poor in dyslexic children, is not related to lexical and semantic reading requirements and might not also be related to different eye movement behavior.

  7. Importance of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder to the Primary Care Physician.

    PubMed

    McCarter, Stuart J; Howell, Michael J

    2016-10-01

    Sleep disorders and neurodegenerative diseases are commonly encountered in primary care. A common, but underdiagnosed sleep disorder, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), is highly associated with Parkinson disease and related disorders. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder is common. It is estimated to affect 0.5% of the general population and more than 7% of individuals older than 60 years; however, most cases go unrecognized. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder presents as dream enactment, often with patients thrashing, punching, and kicking while they are sleeping. Physicians can quickly assess for the presence of RBD with high sensitivity and specificity by asking patients the question "Have you ever been told that you act out your dreams, for example by punching or flailing your arms in the air or screaming and shouting in your sleep?" Patients with RBD exhibit subtle signs of neurodegenerative disease, such as mild motor slowing, constipation, or changes in sense of smell. These signs and symptoms may predict development of a neurodegenerative disease within 3 years. Ultimately, most patients with RBD develop a neurodegenerative disease, highlighting the importance of serial neurological examinations to assess for the presence of parkinsonism and/or cognitive impairment and prognostic counseling for these patients. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder is treatable with melatonin (3-6 mg before bed) or clonazepam (0.5-1 mg before bed) and may be the most common, reversible cause of sleep-related injury. Thus, it is important to identify patients at risk of RBD in a primary care setting so that bedroom safety can be addressed and treatment may be initiated. Copyright © 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Using dual tasks to test immediate transfer of training between naturalistic movements: A proof-of-principle study

    PubMed Central

    Schaefer, Sydney Y.; Lang, Catherine E.

    2012-01-01

    Theories of motor learning predict that training a movement reduces the amount of attention needed for its performance (i.e. more automatic). If training one movement transfers, then the amount of attention needed for performing a second movement should also be reduced, as measured under dual task conditions. The purpose of this study was to test whether dual task paradigms are feasible for detecting transfer of training between two naturalistic movements. Immediately following motor training, subjects improved performance of a second untrained movement under both single and dual task conditions. Subjects with no training did not. Improved performance in the untrained movement was likely due to transfer, and suggests that dual tasks may be feasible for detecting transfer between naturalistic actions. PMID:22934682

  9. Neuropathology in movement disorders.

    PubMed Central

    Gibb, W R

    1989-01-01

    This review concentrates on the definition and classification of degenerative movement disorders in which Parkinsonian symptoms are often prominent. The pathological spectrum and clinical manifestations of Lewy body disease are described, and associations with Alzheimer's disease and motor neuron disease are explored. A classification of pallidonigral degenerations is based on clinical features, distribution of pathology, and morphological abnormalities; some of these patients have mild nigral degeneration and no Parkinsonian features. Many other juvenile and familial Parkinsonian cases are not included among the pallidonigral degenerations. Most of these latter syndromes have been organised into preliminary groups, in particular, autosomal dominant dystonia-Parkinson syndrome, juvenile Parkinsonian disorder and autosomal dominant Lewy body disease. Images PMID:2547027

  10. Basic number processing in children with specific learning disorders: Comorbidity of reading and mathematics disorders.

    PubMed

    Moll, Kristina; Göbel, Silke M; Snowling, Margaret J

    2015-01-01

    As well as being the hallmark of mathematics disorders, deficits in number processing have also been reported for individuals with reading disorders. The aim of the present study was to investigate separately the components of numerical processing affected in reading and mathematical disorders within the framework of the Triple Code Model. Children with reading disorders (RD), mathematics disorders (MD), comorbid deficits (RD + MD), and typically developing children (TD) were tested on verbal, visual-verbal, and nonverbal number tasks. As expected, children with MD were impaired across a broad range of numerical tasks. In contrast, children with RD were impaired in (visual-)verbal number tasks but showed age-appropriate performance in nonverbal number skills, suggesting their impairments were domain specific and related to their reading difficulties. The comorbid group showed an additive profile of the impairments of the two single-deficit groups. Performance in speeded verbal number tasks was related to rapid automatized naming, a measure of visual-verbal access in the RD but not in the MD group. The results indicate that deficits in number skills are due to different underlying cognitive deficits in children with RD compared to children with MD: a phonological deficit in RD and a deficit in processing numerosities in MD.

  11. An analysis of functional shoulder movements during task performance using Dartfish movement analysis software.

    PubMed

    Khadilkar, Leenesh; MacDermid, Joy C; Sinden, Kathryn E; Jenkyn, Thomas R; Birmingham, Trevor B; Athwal, George S

    2014-01-01

    Video-based movement analysis software (Dartfish) has potential for clinical applications for understanding shoulder motion if functional measures can be reliably obtained. The primary purpose of this study was to describe the functional range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder used to perform a subset of functional tasks. A second purpose was to assess the reliability of functional ROM measurements obtained by different raters using Dartfish software. Ten healthy participants, mean age 29 ± 5 years, were videotaped while performing five tasks selected from the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH). Video cameras and markers were used to obtain video images suitable for analysis in Dartfish software. Three repetitions of each task were performed. Shoulder movements from all three repetitions were analyzed using Dartfish software. The tracking tool of the Dartfish software was used to obtain shoulder joint angles and arcs of motion. Test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the measurements were evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Maximum (coronal plane) abduction (118° ± 16°) and (sagittal plane) flexion (111° ± 15°) was observed during 'washing one's hair;' maximum extension (-68° ± 9°) was identified during 'washing one's own back.' Minimum shoulder ROM was observed during 'opening a tight jar' (33° ± 13° abduction and 13° ± 19° flexion). Test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.45 to 0.94) suggests high inter-individual task variability, and inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.68 to 1.00) showed moderate to excellent agreement. KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE: 1) functional shoulder ROM identified in this study compared to similar studies; 2) healthy individuals require less than full ROM when performing five common ADL tasks 3) high participant variability was observed during performance of the five ADL tasks; and 4) Dartfish software provides a clinically relevant tool to analyze shoulder function.

  12. Ketotic hyperglycemia with movement disorder

    PubMed Central

    Awasthi, Disha; Tiwari, Akhilesh Kumar; Upadhyaya, Abhinav; Singh, Balwinder; Tomar, Gaurav Singh

    2012-01-01

    Chorea, hemichorea-hemiballismus and severe partial seizures may be the presenting features of nonketotic hyperglycemia in older adults with type 2 diabetes, but cases in young adults with type 1 diabetes are rare. We hereby report a very rare case of diabetic ketosis with movement disorder in a young patient. PMID:22416165

  13. Immediate Neural Plasticity Involving Reaction Time in a Saccadic Eye Movement Task is Intact in Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

    PubMed

    Paolozza, Angelina; Munoz, Douglas P; Brien, Donald; Reynolds, James N

    2016-11-01

    Saccades are rapid eye movements that bring an image of interest onto the retina. Previous research has found that in healthy individuals performing eye movement tasks, the location of a previous visual target can influence performance of the saccade on the next trial. This rapid behavioral adaptation represents a form of immediate neural plasticity within the saccadic circuitry. Our studies have shown that children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) are impaired on multiple saccade measures. We therefore investigated these previous trial effects in typically developing children and children with FASD to measure sensory neural plasticity and how these effects vary with age and pathology. Both typically developing control children (n = 102; mean age = 10.54 ± 3.25; 48 males) and children with FASD (n = 66; mean age = 11.85 ± 3.42; 35 males) were recruited from 5 sites across Canada. Each child performed a visually guided saccade task. Reaction time and saccade amplitude were analyzed and then assessed based on the previous trial. There was a robust previous trial effect for both reaction time and amplitude, with both the control and FASD groups displaying faster reaction times and smaller saccades during alternation trials (visual target presented on the opposite side to the previous trial). Children with FASD exhibited smaller overall mean amplitude and smaller amplitude selectively on alternation trials compared with controls. The effect of the previous trial on reaction time and amplitude did not differ across childhood and adolescent development. Children with FASD did not display any significant reaction time differences, despite exhibiting numerous deficits in motor and higher level cognitive control over saccades in other studies. These results suggest that this form of immediate neural plasticity in response to sensory information before saccade initiation remains intact in children with FASD. In contrast, the previous trial effect on

  14. The right look for the job: decoding cognitive processes involved in the task from spatial eye-movement patterns.

    PubMed

    Król, Magdalena Ewa; Król, Michał

    2018-02-20

    The aim of the study was not only to demonstrate whether eye-movement-based task decoding was possible but also to investigate whether eye-movement patterns can be used to identify cognitive processes behind the tasks. We compared eye-movement patterns elicited under different task conditions, with tasks differing systematically with regard to the types of cognitive processes involved in solving them. We used four tasks, differing along two dimensions: spatial (global vs. local) processing (Navon, Cognit Psychol, 9(3):353-383 1977) and semantic (deep vs. shallow) processing (Craik and Lockhart, J Verbal Learn Verbal Behav, 11(6):671-684 1972). We used eye-movement patterns obtained from two time periods: fixation cross preceding the target stimulus and the target stimulus. We found significant effects of both spatial and semantic processing, but in case of the latter, the effect might be an artefact of insufficient task control. We found above chance task classification accuracy for both time periods: 51.4% for the period of stimulus presentation and 34.8% for the period of fixation cross presentation. Therefore, we show that task can be to some extent decoded from the preparatory eye-movements before the stimulus is displayed. This suggests that anticipatory eye-movements reflect the visual scanning strategy employed for the task at hand. Finally, this study also demonstrates that decoding is possible even from very scant eye-movement data similar to Coco and Keller, J Vis 14(3):11-11 (2014). This means that task decoding is not limited to tasks that naturally take longer to perform and yield multi-second eye-movement recordings.

  15. Fundamental movement skills and autism spectrum disorders.

    PubMed

    Staples, Kerri L; Reid, Greg

    2010-02-01

    Delays and deficits may both contribute to atypical development of movement skills by children with ASD. Fundamental movement skills of 25 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (ages 9-12 years) were compared to three typically developing groups using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2). The group matched on chronological age performed significantly better on the TGMD-2. Another comparison group matched on movement skill demonstrated children with ASD perform similarly to children approximately half their age. Comparisons to a third group matched on mental age equivalence revealed the movement skills of children with ASD are more impaired than would be expected given their cognitive level. Collectively, these results suggest the movement skills of children with ASD reflect deficits in addition to delays.

  16. Gaze movements and spatial working memory in collision avoidance: a traffic intersection task

    PubMed Central

    Hardiess, Gregor; Hansmann-Roth, Sabrina; Mallot, Hanspeter A.

    2013-01-01

    Street crossing under traffic is an everyday activity including collision detection as well as avoidance of objects in the path of motion. Such tasks demand extraction and representation of spatio-temporal information about relevant obstacles in an optimized format. Relevant task information is extracted visually by the use of gaze movements and represented in spatial working memory. In a virtual reality traffic intersection task, subjects are confronted with a two-lane intersection where cars are appearing with different frequencies, corresponding to high and low traffic densities. Under free observation and exploration of the scenery (using unrestricted eye and head movements) the overall task for the subjects was to predict the potential-of-collision (POC) of the cars or to adjust an adequate driving speed in order to cross the intersection without collision (i.e., to find the free space for crossing). In a series of experiments, gaze movement parameters, task performance, and the representation of car positions within working memory at distinct time points were assessed in normal subjects as well as in neurological patients suffering from homonymous hemianopia. In the following, we review the findings of these experiments together with other studies and provide a new perspective of the role of gaze behavior and spatial memory in collision detection and avoidance, focusing on the following questions: (1) which sensory variables can be identified supporting adequate collision detection? (2) How do gaze movements and working memory contribute to collision avoidance when multiple moving objects are present and (3) how do they correlate with task performance? (4) How do patients with homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs) use gaze movements and working memory to compensate for visual field loss? In conclusion, we extend the theory of collision detection and avoidance in the case of multiple moving objects and provide a new perspective on the combined operation of

  17. Flexible, task-dependent use of sensory feedback to control hand movements

    PubMed Central

    Knill, David C.; Bondada, Amulya; Chhabra, Manu

    2011-01-01

    We tested whether changing accuracy demands for simple pointing movements leads humans to adjust the feedback control laws that map sensory signals from the moving hand to motor commands. Subjects made repeated pointing movements in a virtual environment to touch a button whose shape varied randomly from trial-to-trial – between squares, rectangles oriented perpendicular to the movement path and rectangles oriented parallel to the movement path. Subjects performed the task on a horizontal table, but saw the target configuration and a virtual rendering of their pointing finger through a mirror mounted between a monitor and the table. On a one-third of trials, the position of the virtual finger was perturbed by ±1 cm either in the movement direction or perpendicular to the movement direction when the finger passed behind an occluder. Subjects corrected quickly for the perturbations despite not consciously noticing them; however, they corrected almost twice as much for perturbations aligned with the narrow dimension of a target than for perturbations aligned with the long dimension. These changes in apparent feedback gain appeared in the kinematic trajectories soon after the time of the perturbations, indicating that they reflect differences in the feedback control law used throughout the duration of movements. The results indicate that the brain adjusts its feedback control law for individual movements “on-demand” to fit task demands. Simulations of optimal control laws for a two-joint arm show that accuracy demands alone, coupled with signal dependent noise lead to qualitatively the same behavior. PMID:21273407

  18. Proprioceptive Rehabilitation of Upper Limb Dysfunction in Movement Disorders: A Clinical Perspective

    PubMed Central

    Abbruzzese, Giovanni; Trompetto, Carlo; Mori, Laura; Pelosin, Elisa

    2014-01-01

    Movement disorders (MDs) are frequently associated with sensory abnormalities. In particular, proprioceptive deficits have been largely documented in both hypokinetic (Parkinson’s disease) and hyperkinetic conditions (dystonia), suggesting a possible role in their pathophysiology. Proprioceptive feedback is a fundamental component of sensorimotor integration allowing effective planning and execution of voluntary movements. Rehabilitation has become an essential element in the management of patients with MDs, and there is a strong rationale to include proprioceptive training in rehabilitation protocols focused on mobility problems of the upper limbs. Proprioceptive training is aimed at improving the integration of proprioceptive signals using “task-intrinsic” or “augmented feedback.” This perspective article reviews the available evidence on the effects of proprioceptive stimulation in improving upper limb mobility in patients with MDs and highlights the emerging innovative approaches targeted to maximizing the benefits of exercise by means of enhanced proprioception. PMID:25505402

  19. Movement quality of conventional prostheses and the DEKA Arm during everyday tasks

    PubMed Central

    Cowley, Jeffrey; Resnik, Linda; Wilken, Jason; Walters, Lisa Smurr; Gates, Deanna

    2017-01-01

    Background Conventional prosthetic devices fail to restore the function and characteristic movement quality of the upper limb. The DEKA Arm is a new, advanced prosthesis featuring a compound, powered wrist and multiple grip configurations. Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine if the DEKA Arm improved the movement quality of upper limb prosthesis users compared to conventional prostheses. Study design Case series. Methods Three people with transradial amputation completed tasks of daily life with their conventional prosthesis and with the DEKA Arm. A total of 10 healthy controls completed the same tasks. The trajectory of the wrist joint center was analyzed to determine how different prostheses affected movement duration, speed, smoothness, and curvature compared to patients’ own intact limbs and controls. Results Movement quality decreased with the DEKA Arm for two participants, and increased for the third. Prosthesis users made slower, less smooth, more curved movements with the prosthetic limb compared to the intact limb and controls, particularly when grasping and manipulating objects. Conclusion The effects of one month of training with the DEKA Arm on movement quality varied with participants’ skill and experience with conventional prostheses. Future studies should examine changes in movement quality after long-term use of advanced prostheses. PMID:26932980

  20. Embouchure dystonia--Portrait of a task-specific cranial dystonia.

    PubMed

    Frucht, Steven J

    2009-09-15

    Focal task-specific dystonia (FTSD) is an unusual disorder of motor control, which typically affects the hand but may also involve the face, jaw, and tongue. We report 89 musicians with dystonia of the embouchure (ED), the muscles of the lower face, jaw, and tongue used to control the flow of air into the mouthpiece of a woodwind or brass instrument. Symptoms of ED began at an average age of 36, were typically painless and only rarely were preceded by trauma. Specific musical techniques commonly triggered dystonia, often in one instrumental register. Task-specific embouchure tremor and lip-pulling ED phenotypes were common among high-register brass players (trumpet and French horn), whereas lip-locking occurred exclusively in low-register brass players (trombone and tuba). Jaw and tongue ED phenotypes occurred predominantly in woodwind players, and once present, frequently spread to speaking or eating. Six percent of all ED patients had coincident writer's cramp, suggesting a possible genetic predisposition to develop dystonia. We assessed two-point sensory discrimination in the upper lip, lower lip, and hand in ED patients, normal musicians, and nonmusician age-matched controls--there were no differences between groups. Once present, symptoms of ED did not remit and often disrupted careers and livelihoods. Better treatments are urgently needed for this unusual disorder of oral motor control.

  1. Case vignettes of movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Yung, C Y

    1983-08-01

    This paper reports five movement disorders cases to serve as a basis for discussion of the problems encountered in the clinical management of these cases, and the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in these disorders as presented. Case 1 is a description of the subjective experience of a patient with acute orofacial dystonia from promethazine. Case 2 is the use of clonazepam is post-head injury tics. Case 3 is the complication from discontinuation of haloperidol and benztropine mesylate treatment. Case 4 is myoclonus in subacute sclerosing Panencephalitis, and Case 5 is rebound tremor from withdrawal of a beta-adrenergic blocker.

  2. Characterization of Movement Disorder Phenomenology in Genetically Proven, Familial Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    PubMed

    Gasca-Salas, Carmen; Masellis, Mario; Khoo, Edwin; Shah, Binit B; Fisman, David; Lang, Anthony E; Kleiner-Fisman, Galit

    2016-01-01

    Mutations in granulin (PGRN) and tau (MAPT), and hexanucleotide repeat expansions near the C9orf72 genes are the most prevalent genetic causes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Although behavior, language and movement presentations are common, the relationship between genetic subgroup and movement disorder phenomenology is unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature characterizing the spectrum and prevalence of movement disorders in genetic frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Electronic databases were searched using terms related to frontotemporal lobar degeneration and movement disorders. Articles were included when cases had a proven genetic cause. Study-specific prevalence estimates for clinical features were transformed using Freeman-Tukey arcsine transformation, allowing for pooled estimates of prevalence to be generated using random-effects models. The mean age at onset was earlier in those with MAPT mutations compared to PGRN (p<0.001) and C9orf72 (p = 0.024). 66.5% of subjects had an initial non-movement presentation that was most likely a behavioral syndrome (35.7%). At any point during the disease, parkinsonism was the most common movement syndrome reported in 79.8% followed by progressive supranuclear palsy (PSPS) and corticobasal (CBS) syndromes in 12.2% and 10.7%, respectively. The prevalence of movement disorder as initial presentation was higher in MAPT subjects (35.8%) compared to PGRN subjects (10.1). In those with a non-movement presentation, language disorder was more common in PGRN subjects (18.7%) compared to MAPT subjects (5.4%). This represents the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the occurrence of movement disorder phenomenology in genetic frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Standardized prospective collection of clinical information in conjunction with genetic characterization will be crucial for accurate clinico-genetic correlation.

  3. Characterization of Movement Disorder Phenomenology in Genetically Proven, Familial Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Gasca-Salas, Carmen; Masellis, Mario; Khoo, Edwin; Shah, Binit B.; Fisman, David; Lang, Anthony E.; Kleiner-Fisman, Galit

    2016-01-01

    Background Mutations in granulin (PGRN) and tau (MAPT), and hexanucleotide repeat expansions near the C9orf72 genes are the most prevalent genetic causes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Although behavior, language and movement presentations are common, the relationship between genetic subgroup and movement disorder phenomenology is unclear. Objective We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature characterizing the spectrum and prevalence of movement disorders in genetic frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Methods Electronic databases were searched using terms related to frontotemporal lobar degeneration and movement disorders. Articles were included when cases had a proven genetic cause. Study-specific prevalence estimates for clinical features were transformed using Freeman-Tukey arcsine transformation, allowing for pooled estimates of prevalence to be generated using random-effects models. Results The mean age at onset was earlier in those with MAPT mutations compared to PGRN (p<0.001) and C9orf72 (p = 0.024). 66.5% of subjects had an initial non-movement presentation that was most likely a behavioral syndrome (35.7%). At any point during the disease, parkinsonism was the most common movement syndrome reported in 79.8% followed by progressive supranuclear palsy (PSPS) and corticobasal (CBS) syndromes in 12.2% and 10.7%, respectively. The prevalence of movement disorder as initial presentation was higher in MAPT subjects (35.8%) compared to PGRN subjects (10.1). In those with a non-movement presentation, language disorder was more common in PGRN subjects (18.7%) compared to MAPT subjects (5.4%). Summary This represents the first systematic review and meta-analysis of the occurrence of movement disorder phenomenology in genetic frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Standardized prospective collection of clinical information in conjunction with genetic characterization will be crucial for accurate clinico-genetic correlation. PMID:27100392

  4. Parkinson's disease and other basal ganglia or movement disorders in a large nationwide cohort of Swedish welders

    PubMed Central

    Fored, C M; Fryzek, J P; Brandt, L; Nise, G; Sjögren, B; McLaughlin, J K; Blot, W J; Ekbom, A

    2006-01-01

    Introduction Although it has been hypothesised that metal welding and flame cutting are associated with an increased risk for Parkinson's disease due to manganese released in the welding fume, few rigorous cohort studies have evaluated this risk. Methods The authors examined the relation between employment as a welder and all basal ganglia and movement disorders (ICD‐10, G20–26) in Sweden using nationwide and population based registers. All men recorded as welders or flame cutters (n = 49 488) in the 1960 or 1970 Swedish National Census were identified and their rates of specific basal ganglia and movement disorders between 1964 and 2003 were compared with those in an age and geographical area matched general population comparison cohort of gainfully employed men (n = 489 572). Results The overall rate for basal ganglia and movement disorders combined was similar for the welders and flame cutters compared with the general population (adjusted rate ratio (aRR) = 0.91 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.01). Similarly, the rate ratio for PD was 0.89 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.99). Adjusted rate ratios for other individual basal ganglia and movement disorders were also not significantly increased or decreased. Further analyses of Parkinson's disease by attained age, time period of follow up, geographical area of residency, and educational level revealed no significant differences between the welders and the general population. Rates for Parkinson's disease among welders in shipyards, where exposures to welding fumes are higher, were also similar to the general population (aRR = 0.95; 95% CI 0.70 to 1.28). Conclusion This nationwide record linkage study offers no support for a relation between welding and Parkinson's disease or any other specific basal ganglia and movement disorders. PMID:16421393

  5. A kinematic analysis of visually-guided movement in Williams syndrome.

    PubMed

    Hocking, Darren R; Rinehart, Nicole J; McGinley, Jennifer L; Moss, Simon A; Bradshaw, John L

    2011-02-15

    Previous studies have reported that people with the neurodevelopmental disorder Williams syndrome exhibit difficulties with visuomotor control. In the current study, we examined the extent to which visuomotor deficits were associated with movement planning or feedback-based on-line control. We used a variant of the Fitts' reciprocal aiming task on a computerized touchscreen in adults with WS, IQ-matched individuals with Down syndrome (DS), and typically developing controls. By manipulating task difficulty both as a function of target size and amplitude, we were able to vary the requirements for accuracy to examine processes associated with dorsal visual stream and cerebellar functioning. Although a greater increase in movement time as a function of task difficulty was observed in the two clinical groups with WS and DS, greater magnitude in the late kinematic components of movement-specifically, time after peak velocity-was revealed in the WS group during increased demands for accuracy. In contrast, the DS group showed a greater speed-accuracy trade-off with significantly reduced and more variable endpoint accuracy, which may be associated with cerebellar deficits. In addition, the WS group spent more time stationary in the target when task-related features reflected a higher level of difficulty, suggestive of specific deficits in movement planning. Our results indicate that the visuomotor coordination deficits in WS may reflect known impairments of the dorsal stream, but may also indicate a role for the cerebellum in dynamic feed-forward motor control. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Gazing into Thin Air: The Dual-Task Costs of Movement Planning and Execution during Adaptive Gait

    PubMed Central

    Ellmers, Toby J.; Cocks, Adam J.; Doumas, Michail; Williams, A. Mark; Young, William R.

    2016-01-01

    We examined the effect of increased cognitive load on visual search behavior and measures of gait performance during locomotion. Also, we investigated how personality traits, specifically the propensity to consciously control or monitor movements (trait movement ‘reinvestment’), impacted the ability to maintain effective gaze under conditions of cognitive load. Healthy young adults traversed a novel adaptive walking path while performing a secondary serial subtraction task. Performance was assessed using correct responses to the cognitive task, gaze behavior, stepping accuracy, and time to complete the walking task. When walking while simultaneously carrying out the secondary serial subtraction task, participants visually fixated on task-irrelevant areas ‘outside’ the walking path more often and for longer durations of time, and fixated on task-relevant areas ‘inside’ the walkway for shorter durations. These changes were most pronounced in high-trait-reinvesters. We speculate that reinvestment-related processes placed an additional cognitive demand upon working memory. These increased task-irrelevant ‘outside’ fixations were accompanied by slower completion rates on the walking task and greater gross stepping errors. Findings suggest that attention is important for the maintenance of effective gaze behaviors, supporting previous claims that the maladaptive changes in visual search observed in high-risk older adults may be a consequence of inefficiencies in attentional processing. Identifying the underlying attentional processes that disrupt effective gaze behaviour during locomotion is an essential step in the development of rehabilitation, with this information allowing for the emergence of interventions that reduce the risk of falling. PMID:27824937

  7. A relationship between eye movement patterns and performance in a precognitive tracking task

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Repperger, D. W.; Hartzell, E. J.

    1977-01-01

    Eye movements made by various subjects in the performance of a precognitive tracking task are studied. The tracking task persented by an antiaircraft artillery (AAA) simulator has an input forcing function represented by a deterministic aircraft fly-by. The performance of subjects is ranked by two metrics. Good, mediocre, and poor trackers are selected for analysis based on performance during the difficult segment of the tracking task and over replications. Using phase planes to characterize both the eye movement patterns and the displayed error signal, a simple metric is developed to study these patterns. Two characterizations of eye movement strategies are defined and quantified. Using these two types of eye strategies, two conclusions are obtained about good, mediocre, and poor trackers. First, the eye tracker who used a fixed strategy will consistently perform better. Secondly, the best fixed strategy is defined as a Crosshair Fixator.

  8. Clinical assessment of adventitious movements.

    PubMed

    Brasić, J R; Barnett, J Y; Sheitman, B B; Lafargue, R T; Ahn, S C

    1998-12-01

    Many procedures with variable validity and reliability have been developed in research settings to evaluate adventitious movements and related phenomena in specific populations, e.g., people with schizophrenia treated with dopamine antagonists, but these only provide global assessments or rate specific movements. A battery for rating individuals with possible movements disorders in a comprehensive way in clinical settings is needed so a protocol to assess briefly and thoroughly potential movement disorders was videotaped for five prepubertal boys with autistic disorder and severe mental retardation in a clinical trial. Utilizing a Movement Assessment Battery, four raters independently scored videotapes of 10-16 movements assessments of each of the five subjects. Experienced raters attained agreement of 59% to 100% on ratings of tardive dyskinesia and 48% to 100% on tics. Hindrances to reliability included poor quality of some tapes, high activity of subjects, and fatigue of raters.

  9. Gamma knife radiosurgery in movement disorders: Indications and limitations.

    PubMed

    Higuchi, Yoshinori; Matsuda, Shinji; Serizawa, Toru

    2017-01-01

    Functional radiosurgery has advanced steadily during the past half century since the development of the gamma knife technique for treating intractable cancer pain. Applications of radiosurgery for intracranial diseases have increased with a focus on understanding radiobiology. Currently, the use of gamma knife radiosurgery to ablate deep brain structures is not widespread because visualization of the functional targets remains difficult despite the increased availability of advanced neuroimaging technology. Moreover, most existing reports have a small sample size or are retrospective. However, increased experience with intraoperative neurophysiological evaluations in radiofrequency thalamotomy and deep brain stimulation supports anatomical and neurophysiological approaches to the ventralis intermedius nucleus. Two recent prospective studies have promoted the clinical application of functional radiosurgery for movement disorders. For example, unilateral gamma knife thalamotomy is a potential alternative to radiofrequency thalamotomy and deep brain stimulation techniques for intractable tremor patients with contraindications for surgery. Despite the promising efficacy of gamma knife thalamotomy, however, these studies did not include sufficient follow-up to confirm long-term effects. Herein, we review the radiobiology literature, various techniques, and the treatment efficacy of gamma knife radiosurgery for patients with movement disorders. Future research should focus on randomized controlled studies and long-term effects. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2016 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

  10. Eye movement training is most effective when it involves a task-relevant sensorimotor decision.

    PubMed

    Fooken, Jolande; Lalonde, Kathryn M; Mann, Gurkiran K; Spering, Miriam

    2018-04-01

    Eye and hand movements are closely linked when performing everyday actions. We conducted a perceptual-motor training study to investigate mutually beneficial effects of eye and hand movements, asking whether training in one modality benefits performance in the other. Observers had to predict the future trajectory of a briefly presented moving object, and intercept it at its assumed location as accurately as possible with their finger. Eye and hand movements were recorded simultaneously. Different training protocols either included eye movements or a combination of eye and hand movements with or without external performance feedback. Eye movement training did not transfer across modalities: Irrespective of feedback, finger interception accuracy and precision improved after training that involved the hand, but not after isolated eye movement training. Conversely, eye movements benefited from hand movement training or when external performance feedback was given, thus improving only when an active interceptive task component was involved. These findings indicate only limited transfer across modalities. However, they reveal the importance of creating a training task with an active sensorimotor decision to improve the accuracy and precision of eye and hand movements.

  11. Neurodevelopmental movement disorders - an update on childhood motor stereotypies.

    PubMed

    Barry, Sinéad; Baird, Gillian; Lascelles, Karine; Bunton, Penny; Hedderly, Tammy

    2011-11-01

    The term 'stereotypies' encompasses a diverse range of movements, behaviours, and/or vocalizations that are repetitive, lack clear function, and sometimes appear to have a negative impact upon an individual's life. This review aims to describe motor stereotypies. This study reviewed the current literature on the nature, aetiology, and treatment of motor stereotypies. Motor stereotypies occur commonly but not exclusively in autistic spectrum disorders. Similar movements are also found in otherwise healthy children and those suffering sensory impairment, social isolation, or severe intellectual disabilities; they may be persistent over time. Although often difficult, it is possible to define and differentiate stereotypies from other movement disorders such as tics through features of the history, such as earlier onset and examination, together with the presence or absence of associated neurological impairment or developmental difficulties. Co-occurrence with other disorders affecting frontostriatal brain systems, including attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and tic disorders, is common. The underlying function of motor stereotypies remains unclear but may include the maintenance of arousal levels. A neurogenetic aetiology is proposed but requires further study. When treatment is sought, there are both pharmacological and behavioural options. Behavioural treatments for motor stereotypies may in time be shown to be most effective; however, they are difficult to implement in children younger than 7 years old. © The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology © 2011 Mac Keith Press.

  12. Reduced effects of tendon vibration with increased task demand during active, cyclical ankle movements

    PubMed Central

    Floyd, Lisa M.; Holmes, Taylor C.; Dean, Jesse C.

    2013-01-01

    Tendon vibration can alter proprioceptive feedback, one source of sensory information which humans can use to produce accurate movements. However, the effects of tendon vibration during functional movement vary depending on the task. For example, ankle tendon vibration has considerably smaller effects during walking than standing posture. The purpose of this study was to test whether the effects of ankle tendon vibration are predictably influenced by the mechanical demands of a task, as quantified by peak velocity. Twelve participants performed symmetric, cyclical ankle plantarflexion/dorsiflexion movements while lying prone with their ankle motion unconstrained. The prescribed movement period (1s, 3s) and peak-to-peak amplitude (10°, 15°, 20°) were varied across trials; shorter movement periods or larger amplitudes increased the peak velocity. In some trials, vibration was continuously and simultaneously applied to the right ankle plantarflexor and dorsiflexor tendons, while the left ankle tendons were never vibrated. The vibration frequency (40, 80, 120, 160 Hz) was varied across trials. During trials without vibration, participants accurately matched the movement of their ankles. The application of 80 Hz vibration to the right ankle tendons significantly reduced the amplitude of right ankle movement. However, the effect of vibration was smaller during more mechanically demanding (i.e. higher peak velocity) movements. Higher vibration frequencies had larger effects on movement accuracy, possibly due to parallel increases in vibration amplitude. These results demonstrate that the effects of ankle tendon vibration are dependent on the mechanical demand of the task being performed, but cannot definitively identify the underlying physiological mechanism. PMID:24136344

  13. Task-specificity of bilateral anticipatory activation of the deep abdominal muscles in healthy and chronic low back pain populations.

    PubMed

    Massé-Alarie, Hugo; Beaulieu, Louis-David; Preuss, Richard; Schneider, Cyril

    2015-02-01

    Cross-sectional study of lumbopelvic muscle activation during rapid limb movements in chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients and healthy controls. Controversy exists over whether bilateral anticipatory activation of the deep abdominal muscles represents a normal motor control strategy prior to all rapid limb movements, or if this is simply a task-specific strategy appropriate for only certain movement conditions. To assess the onset timing of the transversus abdominis/internal oblique muscles (TrA/IO) during two rapid limb movement tasks with different postural demands - bilateral shoulder flexion in standing, unilateral hip extension in prone lying - as well as differences between CLBP and controls. Twelve CLBP and 13 controls performed the two tasks in response to an auditory cue. Surface EMG was acquired bilaterally from five muscles, including TrA/IO. In both groups, 50% of bilateral shoulder flexion trials showed bilateral anticipatory TrA/IO activation. This was rare, however, in unilateral hip extension for which only the TrA/IO contralateral to the moving leg showed anticipatory activation. The only significant difference in lumbo-pelvic muscle onset timing between CLBP and controls was a delay in semitendinosus activation during bilateral shoulder flexion in standing. Our data suggest that bilateral anticipatory TrA/IO activation is a task-specific motor control strategy, appropriate for only certain rapid limb movement conditions. Furthermore, the presence of altered semitendinosus onset timing in the CLBP group during bilateral shoulder flexion may be reflective of other possible lumbo-pelvic motor control alterations among this population. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Level walking in adults with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder: An analysis of movement variability.

    PubMed

    Du, Wenchong; Wilmut, Kate; Barnett, Anna L

    2015-10-01

    Several studies have shown that Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a condition that continues beyond childhood. Although adults with DCD report difficulties with dynamic balance, as well as frequent tripping and bumping into objects, there have been no specific studies on walking in this population. Some previous work has focused on walking in children with DCD but variation in the tasks and measures used has led to inconsistent findings. The aim of the current study therefore was to examine the characteristics of level walking in adults with and without DCD. Fifteen adults with DCD and 15 typically developing (TD) controls walked barefoot at a natural pace up and down an 11 m walkway for one minute. Foot placement measures and velocity and acceleration of the body were recorded, as well as measures of movement variability. The adults with DCD showed similar gait patterns to the TD group in terms of step length, step width, double support time and stride time. The DCD group also showed similar velocity and acceleration to the TD group in the medio-lateral, anterior-posterior and vertical direction. However, the DCD group exhibited greater variability in all foot placement and some body movement measures. The finding that adults with DCD have a reduced ability to produce consistent movement patterns is discussed in relation to postural control limitations and compared to variability of walking measures found in elderly populations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. The Moving Rubber Hand Illusion Reveals that Explicit Sense of Agency for Tapping Movements Is Preserved in Functional Movement Disorders.

    PubMed

    Marotta, Angela; Bombieri, Federica; Zampini, Massimiliano; Schena, Federico; Dallocchio, Carlo; Fiorio, Mirta; Tinazzi, Michele

    2017-01-01

    Functional movement disorders (FMD) are characterized by motor symptoms (e.g., tremor, gait disorder, and dystonia) that are not compatible with movement abnormalities related to a known organic cause. One key clinical feature of FMD is that motor symptoms are similar to voluntary movements but are subjectively experienced as involuntary by patients. This gap might be related to abnormal self-recognition of bodily action, which involves two main components: sense of agency and sense of body ownership. The aim of this study was to systematically investigate whether this function is altered in FMD, specifically focusing on the subjective feeling of agency, body ownership, and their interaction during normal voluntary movements. Patients with FMD ( n = 21) and healthy controls ( n = 21) underwent the moving Rubber Hand Illusion (mRHI), in which passive and active movements can differentially elicit agency, ownership or both. Explicit measures of agency and ownership were obtained via a questionnaire. Patients and controls showed a similar pattern of response: when the rubber hand was in a plausible posture, active movements elicited strong agency and ownership; implausible posture of the rubber hand abolished ownership but not agency; passive movements suppressed agency but not ownership. These findings suggest that explicit sense of agency and body ownership are preserved in FMD. The latter finding is shared by a previous study in FMD using a static version of the RHI, whereas the former appears to contrast with studies demonstrating altered implicit measures of agency (e.g., sensory attenuation). Our study extends previous findings by suggesting that in FMD: (i) the sense of body ownership is retained also when interacting with the motor system; (ii) the subjective experience of agency for voluntary tapping movements, as measured by means of mRHI, is preserved.

  16. The Moving Rubber Hand Illusion Reveals that Explicit Sense of Agency for Tapping Movements Is Preserved in Functional Movement Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Marotta, Angela; Bombieri, Federica; Zampini, Massimiliano; Schena, Federico; Dallocchio, Carlo; Fiorio, Mirta; Tinazzi, Michele

    2017-01-01

    Functional movement disorders (FMD) are characterized by motor symptoms (e.g., tremor, gait disorder, and dystonia) that are not compatible with movement abnormalities related to a known organic cause. One key clinical feature of FMD is that motor symptoms are similar to voluntary movements but are subjectively experienced as involuntary by patients. This gap might be related to abnormal self-recognition of bodily action, which involves two main components: sense of agency and sense of body ownership. The aim of this study was to systematically investigate whether this function is altered in FMD, specifically focusing on the subjective feeling of agency, body ownership, and their interaction during normal voluntary movements. Patients with FMD (n = 21) and healthy controls (n = 21) underwent the moving Rubber Hand Illusion (mRHI), in which passive and active movements can differentially elicit agency, ownership or both. Explicit measures of agency and ownership were obtained via a questionnaire. Patients and controls showed a similar pattern of response: when the rubber hand was in a plausible posture, active movements elicited strong agency and ownership; implausible posture of the rubber hand abolished ownership but not agency; passive movements suppressed agency but not ownership. These findings suggest that explicit sense of agency and body ownership are preserved in FMD. The latter finding is shared by a previous study in FMD using a static version of the RHI, whereas the former appears to contrast with studies demonstrating altered implicit measures of agency (e.g., sensory attenuation). Our study extends previous findings by suggesting that in FMD: (i) the sense of body ownership is retained also when interacting with the motor system; (ii) the subjective experience of agency for voluntary tapping movements, as measured by means of mRHI, is preserved. PMID:28634447

  17. Telemedicine Use for Movement Disorders: A Global Survey.

    PubMed

    Hassan, Anhar; Dorsey, E Ray; Goetz, Christopher G; Bloem, Bastiaan R; Guttman, Mark; Tanner, Caroline M; Mari, Zoltan; Pantelyat, Alexander; Galifianakis, Nicholas B; Bajwa, Jawad A; Gatto, Emilia M; Cubo, Esther

    2018-03-22

    Telemedicine is increasingly used to care for patients with movement disorders, but data regarding its global use are limited. To obtain baseline international data about telemedicine use among movement disorder clinicians. An online survey was sent to all 6,056 Movement Disorder Society members in 2015. Scope, reimbursement, and perceived quality of telemedicine were assessed. There were 549 respondents (9.1% overall response rate) from 83 countries. Most (85.8%) were physicians, and most (70.9%) worked in an academic or university practice. Half of respondents (n = 287, from 57 countries) used telemedicine for clinical care; activities included e-mail (63.2%), video visits (follow-up [39.7%] and new [35.2%]), and video-based education (35.2%). One hundred five respondents personally conducted video visits, most frequently to outpatient clinics (53.5%), patient homes (30.8%), and hospital inpatients (30.3%). The most common challenges were a limited neurological examination (58.9%) and technological difficulties (53.3%), and the most common benefits were reduced travel time (92.9%) and patient costs (60.1%). The most frequent reimbursements were none (39.0%), public insurance (24.5%), and patient payment (9.3%). Half of respondents planned to use telemedicine in the future, and three-quarters were interested in telemedicine education. More than 250 respondents around the world engage in telemedicine for movement disorders; most perceived benefit for patients, despite challenges and reimbursement for clinicians. Formal instruction on telemedicine is highly desired. Although the survey response was low and possibly biased to over represent those with telemedicine experience, the study provides baseline data for future comparison and to improve telemedicine delivery.

  18. Movement disorders and chronic psychosis

    PubMed Central

    Morgante, Francesca

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Purpose of review: To discuss selected peer-reviewed research articles published between 2014 and 2016 and highlight 5 clinically relevant messages related to hyperkinetic and hypokinetic movement disorders in patients with chronic psychosis. Recent findings: A recent population-based study complemented data from clinical trials in showing increased risk of developing extrapyramidal symptoms with antipsychotic use. A community service–based longitudinal study showed that dopamine transporter imaging could help identify subgroups of patients with parkinsonism associated with antipsychotics with a progressive course, potentially manageable with l-dopa. Data from recent noteworthy clinical trials showed that a new VMAT-2 inhibitor and, for pharmacologically refractory tardive dyskinesia, deep brain stimulation of the globus pallidus internus are promising interventions. Finally, a population-based study has confirmed that hyperkinesias (encompassing chorea, dystonia, and stereotypies) may be early predictors of psychosis even in childhood and adolescence. Summary: Movement disorders associated with new-generation antipsychotics, including widely used agents (e.g., aripiprazole), are not rare occurrences. Better monitoring is needed to assess their true effect on patients' quality of life and functioning and to prevent underascertainment. PMID:29185545

  19. Targeted brain activation using an MR-compatible wrist torque measurement device and isometric motor tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging.

    PubMed

    Vlaar, Martijn P; Mugge, Winfred; Groot, Paul F C; Sharifi, Sarvi; Bour, Lo J; van der Helm, Frans C T; van Rootselaar, Anne-Fleur; Schouten, Alfred C

    2016-07-01

    Dedicated pairs of isometric wrist flexion tasks, with and without visual feedback of the exerted torque, were designed to target activation of the CBL and BG in healthy subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Selective activation of the cerebellum (CBL) and basal ganglia (BG), often implicated in movement disorders such as tremor and dystonia, may help identify pathological changes and expedite diagnosis. A prototyped MR-compatible wrist torque measurement device, free of magnetic and conductive materials, allowed safe execution of tasks during fMRI without causing artifacts. A significant increase of activity in CBL and BG was found in healthy volunteers during a constant torque task with visual feedback compared to a constant torque task without visual feedback. This study shows that specific pairs of motor tasks using MR-compatible equipment at the wrist allow for targeted activation of CBL and BG, paving a new way for research into the pathophysiology of movement disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Telemedicine Enables Broader Access to Movement Disorders Curricula for Medical Students.

    PubMed

    Cubo, Esther; Doumbe, Jacques; López, Emiliano; Lopez, Guadalupe A; Gatto, Emilia; Persi, Gabriel; Guttman, Mark

    2017-01-01

    The impact of tele-education for movement disorders on medical students is unknown. The present study had three objectives. First, to create a tele-education program for medical students in regions with limited access to movement disorders curricula. Second, to analyze the feasibility, satisfaction, and improvement of medical knowledge. Third, to assess the main reasons of medical students for attending this course. In 2016, a program was piloted in a low-middle income (Cameroon) and a middle-high income (Argentina) country. Medical students were offered a free movement disorder tele-education program (four medical schools in Argentina, and 1 medical school in Cameroon). Six real-time videoconferences covering hyperkinetic and hypokinetic movement disorders were included. Evaluations included attendance, pre- and post-medical knowledge, and satisfaction questionnaires. The study included 151 undergraduate medical students (79.4% from Argentina, 20.6% from Cameroon). Feasibility was acceptable with 100% and 85.7% of the videoconferences completed in Argentina and Cameroon, respectively. Attendance was higher in Argentina compared to Cameroon (75% vs. 33.1%). According to student reports, the topics and innovative educational environment were the main reasons for attendance. Both groups ranked satisfaction as moderate to high, and medical knowledge improved similarly in both countries. Tele-education can improve movement disorders knowledge in medical schools in high-middle and low-middle income countries lacking access to other educational opportunities.

  1. Analogical reasoning in children with specific language impairment: Evidence from a scene analogy task.

    PubMed

    Krzemien, Magali; Jemel, Boutheina; Maillart, Christelle

    2017-01-01

    Analogical reasoning is a human ability that maps systems of relations. It develops along with relational knowledge, working memory and executive functions such as inhibition. It also maintains a mutual influence on language development. Some authors have taken a greater interest in the analogical reasoning ability of children with language disorders, specifically those with specific language impairment (SLI). These children apparently have weaker analogical reasoning abilities than their aged-matched peers without language disorders. Following cognitive theories of language acquisition, this deficit could be one of the causes of language disorders in SLI, especially those concerning productivity. To confirm this deficit and its link to language disorders, we use a scene analogy task to evaluate the analogical performance of SLI children and compare them to controls of the same age and linguistic abilities. Results show that children with SLI perform worse than age-matched peers, but similar to language-matched peers. They are more influenced by increased task difficulty. The association between language disorders and analogical reasoning in SLI can be confirmed. The hypothesis of limited processing capacity in SLI is also being considered.

  2. Eye Movements Reveal How Task Difficulty Moulds Visual Search

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Angela H.; Hulleman, Johan

    2013-01-01

    In two experiments we investigated the relationship between eye movements and performance in visual search tasks of varying difficulty. Experiment 1 provided evidence that a single process is used for search among static and moving items. Moreover, we estimated the functional visual field (FVF) from the gaze coordinates and found that its size…

  3. Task-Relevant Information Modulates Primary Motor Cortex Activity Before Movement Onset.

    PubMed

    Calderon, Cristian B; Van Opstal, Filip; Peigneux, Philippe; Verguts, Tom; Gevers, Wim

    2018-01-01

    Monkey neurophysiology research supports the affordance competition hypothesis (ACH) proposing that cognitive information useful for action selection is integrated in sensorimotor areas. In this view, action selection would emerge from the simultaneous representation of competing action plans, in parallel biased by relevant task factors. This biased competition would take place up to primary motor cortex (M1). Although ACH is plausible in environments affording choices between actions, its relevance for human decision making is less clear. To address this issue, we designed an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment modeled after monkey neurophysiology studies in which human participants processed cues conveying predictive information about upcoming button presses. Our results demonstrate that, as predicted by the ACH, predictive information (i.e., the relevant task factor) biases activity of primary motor regions. Specifically, first, activity before movement onset in contralateral M1 increases as the competition is biased in favor of a specific button press relative to activity in ipsilateral M1. Second, motor regions were more tightly coupled with fronto-parietal regions when competition between potential actions was high, again suggesting that motor regions are also part of the biased competition network. Our findings support the idea that action planning dynamics as proposed in the ACH are valid both in human and non-human primates.

  4. Uncovering beat deafness: detecting rhythm disorders with synchronized finger tapping and perceptual timing tasks.

    PubMed

    Dalla Bella, Simone; Sowiński, Jakub

    2015-03-16

    A set of behavioral tasks for assessing perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) is presented here with the goal of uncovering rhythm disorders, such as beat deafness. Beat deafness is characterized by poor performance in perceiving durations in auditory rhythmic patterns or poor synchronization of movement with auditory rhythms (e.g., with musical beats). These tasks include the synchronization of finger tapping to the beat of simple and complex auditory stimuli and the detection of rhythmic irregularities (anisochrony detection task) embedded in the same stimuli. These tests, which are easy to administer, include an assessment of both perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities under different conditions (e.g., beat rates and types of auditory material) and are based on the same auditory stimuli, ranging from a simple metronome to a complex musical excerpt. The analysis of synchronized tapping data is performed with circular statistics, which provide reliable measures of synchronization accuracy (e.g., the difference between the timing of the taps and the timing of the pacing stimuli) and consistency. Circular statistics on tapping data are particularly well-suited for detecting individual differences in the general population. Synchronized tapping and anisochrony detection are sensitive measures for identifying profiles of rhythm disorders and have been used with success to uncover cases of poor synchronization with spared perceptual timing. This systematic assessment of perceptual and sensorimotor timing can be extended to populations of patients with brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease), and developmental disorders (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

  5. Eye movements during information processing tasks: individual differences and cultural effects.

    PubMed

    Rayner, Keith; Li, Xingshan; Williams, Carrick C; Cave, Kyle R; Well, Arnold D

    2007-09-01

    The eye movements of native English speakers, native Chinese speakers, and bilingual Chinese/English speakers who were either born in China (and moved to the US at an early age) or in the US were recorded during six tasks: (1) reading, (2) face processing, (3) scene perception, (4) visual search, (5) counting Chinese characters in a passage of text, and (6) visual search for Chinese characters. Across the different groups, there was a strong tendency for consistency in eye movement behavior; if fixation durations of a given viewer were long on one task, they tended to be long on other tasks (and the same tended to be true for saccade size). Some tasks, notably reading, did not conform to this pattern. Furthermore, experience with a given writing system had a large impact on fixation durations and saccade lengths. With respect to cultural differences, there was little evidence that Chinese participants spent more time looking at the background information (and, conversely less time looking at the foreground information) than the American participants. Also, Chinese participants' fixations were more numerous and of shorter duration than those of their American counterparts while viewing faces and scenes, and counting Chinese characters in text.

  6. Clinical, Genetic, and Radiological Features of Extrapyramidal Movement Disorders in Mitochondrial Disease.

    PubMed

    Martikainen, Mika H; Ng, Yi Shiau; Gorman, Gráinne S; Alston, Charlotte L; Blakely, Emma L; Schaefer, Andrew M; Chinnery, Patrick F; Burn, David J; Taylor, Robert W; McFarland, Robert; Turnbull, Doug M

    2016-06-01

    Extrapyramidal movement disorders associated with mitochondrial disease are difficult to treat and can lead to considerable disability. Moreover, potential new treatment trials on the horizon highlight the importance of genotype-phenotype associations and deep phenotyping of the movement disorders related to mitochondrial disease. To describe the phenotype, genetic etiology, and investigation of extrapyramidal movement disorders in a large and well-defined mitochondrial disease cohort. An observational cohort study at a single national referral center. Among 678 patients (87% adults) followed up at the Newcastle mitochondrial disease specialized referral center between January 1, 2000, and January 31, 2015, 42 patients (12 pediatric, 30 adult) with genetic or biochemical evidence of mitochondrial disease and with 1 or more predefined extrapyramidal movement disorders (parkinsonism, dystonia, tremor, chorea, and restless legs syndrome) were included. We investigated the prevalence and genetic causes of dystonia and parkinsonism as well as radiological findings in the context of movement disorders in mitochondrial disease. All patients were interviewed and examined. All available medical notes and clinical, radiological, and genetic investigations were reviewed. Forty-two patients (mean [SD] age, 37 [25] years; 38% female) with mitochondrial disease (12 pediatric [age range, 4-14 years], 30 adult [age range, 20-81 years]) with extrapyramidal movement disorders were identified. Dystonia manifested in 11 pediatric patients (92%), often in the context of Leigh syndrome; parkinsonism predominated in 13 adult patients (43%), among whom 5 (38%) harbored either dominant (n = 1) or recessive (n = 4) mutations in POLG. Eleven adult patients (37%) manifested with either generalized or multifocal dystonia related to mutations in mitochondrial DNA, among which the most common were the m.11778G>A mutation and mutations in MT-ATP6 (3 of 11 patients [27%] each). Bilateral

  7. Analysis of reaching movements of upper arm in robot assisted exercises. Kinematic assessment of robot assisted upper arm reaching single-joint movements.

    PubMed

    Iuppariello, Luigi; D'Addio, Giovanni; Romano, Maria; Bifulco, Paolo; Lanzillo, Bernardo; Pappone, Nicola; Cesarelli, Mario

    2016-01-01

    Robot-mediated therapy (RMT) has been a very dynamic area of research in recent years. Robotics devices are in fact capable to quantify the performances of a rehabilitation task in treatments of several disorders of the arm and the shoulder of various central and peripheral etiology. Different systems for robot-aided neuro-rehabilitation are available for upper limb rehabilitation but the biomechanical parameters proposed until today, to evaluate the quality of the movement, are related to the specific robot used and to the type of exercise performed. Besides, none study indicated a standardized quantitative evaluation of robot assisted upper arm reaching movements, so the RMT is still far to be considered a standardised tool. In this paper a quantitative kinematic assessment of robot assisted upper arm reaching movements, considering also the effect of gravity on the quality of the movements, is proposed. We studied a group of 10 healthy subjects and results indicate that our advised protocol can be useful for characterising normal pattern in reaching movements.

  8. Modelling eye movements in a categorical search task

    PubMed Central

    Zelinsky, Gregory J.; Adeli, Hossein; Peng, Yifan; Samaras, Dimitris

    2013-01-01

    We introduce a model of eye movements during categorical search, the task of finding and recognizing categorically defined targets. It extends a previous model of eye movements during search (target acquisition model, TAM) by using distances from an support vector machine classification boundary to create probability maps indicating pixel-by-pixel evidence for the target category in search images. Other additions include functionality enabling target-absent searches, and a fixation-based blurring of the search images now based on a mapping between visual and collicular space. We tested this model on images from a previously conducted variable set-size (6/13/20) present/absent search experiment where participants searched for categorically defined teddy bear targets among random category distractors. The model not only captured target-present/absent set-size effects, but also accurately predicted for all conditions the numbers of fixations made prior to search judgements. It also predicted the percentages of first eye movements during search landing on targets, a conservative measure of search guidance. Effects of set size on false negative and false positive errors were also captured, but error rates in general were overestimated. We conclude that visual features discriminating a target category from non-targets can be learned and used to guide eye movements during categorical search. PMID:24018720

  9. Goal-directed arm movements in children with fetal alcohol syndrome: a kinematic approach.

    PubMed

    Domellöf, E; Fagard, J; Jacquet, A-Y; Rönnqvist, L

    2011-02-01

    Although many studies have documented deficits in general motor functioning in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), few have employed detailed measurements to explore the specific nature of such disabilities. This pilot study explores whether three-dimensional (3D) kinematic analysis may generate increased knowledge of the effect of intrauterine alcohol exposure on motor control processes by detecting atypical upper-limb movement pattern specificity in children with FAS relative to typically developing (TD) children. Left and right arm and head movements during a sequential unimanual goal-directed precision task in a sample of children with FAS and in TD children were registered by an optoelectronic tracking system (ProReflex, Qualisys Inc.). Children with FAS demonstrated evidently poorer task performance compared with TD children. Additionally, analyses of arm movement kinematics revealed atypical spatio-temporal organization in the children with FAS. In general, they exhibited longer arm movement trajectories at both the proximal and distal level, faster velocities at the proximal level but slower at the distal level, and more segmented distal movements. Children with FAS also showed atypically augmented and fast head movements during the task performance. Findings indicate neuromotor deficits and developmental delay in goal-directed arm movements because of prenatal alcohol exposure. It is suggested that 3D kinematic analysis is a valid technique for furthering the understanding of motor control processes in children with FAS/fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. A combination with relevant neuroimaging techniques in future studies would enable a more clear-cut interpretation of how atypical movement patterns relate to underlying brain abnormalities. © 2010 The Author(s). European Journal of Neurology © 2010 EFNS.

  10. [Electromyography Analysis of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder].

    PubMed

    Nakano, Natsuko; Kinoshita, Fumiya; Takada, Hiroki; Nakayama, Meiho

    2018-01-01

    Polysomnography (PSG), which records physiological phenomena including brain waves, breathing status, and muscle tonus, is useful for the diagnosis of sleep disorders as a gold standard. However, measurement and analysis are complex for several specific sleep disorders, such as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Usually, brain waves during REM sleep indicate an awakening pattern under relaxed conditions of skeletal and antigravity muscles. However, these muscles are activated during REM sleep when patients suffer from RBD. These activated muscle movements during REM, so-called REM without atonia (RWA) recorded by PSG, may be related to a neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's disease. Thus, careful analysis of RWA is significant not only physically, but also clinically. Commonly, manual viewing measurement analysis of RWA is time-consuming. Therefore, quantitative studies on RWA are rarely reported. A software program, developed from Microsoft Office Excel ® , was used to semiautomatically analyze the RWA ratio extracted from PSG to compare with manual viewing measurement analysis. In addition, a quantitative muscle tonus study was carried out to evaluate the effect of medication on RBD patients. Using this new software program, we were able to analyze RWA on the same cases in approximately 15 min as compared with 60 min in the manual viewing measurement analysis. This software program can not only quantify RWA easily but also identify RWA waves for either phasic or tonic bursts. We consider that this software program will support physicians and scientists in their future research on RBD. We are planning to offer this software program for free to physicians and scientists.

  11. Multidigit movement synergies of the human hand in an unconstrained haptic exploration task.

    PubMed

    Thakur, Pramodsingh H; Bastian, Amy J; Hsiao, Steven S

    2008-02-06

    Although the human hand has a complex structure with many individual degrees of freedom, joint movements are correlated. Studies involving simple tasks (grasping) or skilled tasks (typing or finger spelling) have shown that a small number of combined joint motions (i.e., synergies) can account for most of the variance in observed hand postures. However, those paradigms evoked a limited set of hand postures and as such the reported correlation patterns of joint motions may be task-specific. Here, we used an unconstrained haptic exploration task to evoke a set of hand postures that is representative of most naturalistic postures during object manipulation. Principal component analysis on this set revealed that the first seven principal components capture >90% of the observed variance in hand postures. Further, we identified nine eigenvectors (or synergies) that are remarkably similar across multiple subjects and across manipulations of different sets of objects within a subject. We then determined that these synergies are used broadly by showing that they account for the changes in hand postures during other tasks. These include hand motions such as reach and grasp of objects that vary in width, curvature and angle, and skilled motions such as precision pinch. Our results demonstrate that the synergies reported here generalize across tasks, and suggest that they represent basic building blocks underlying natural human hand motions.

  12. Impairment in Movement Skills of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Dido; Charman, Tony; Pickles, Andrew; Chandler, Susie; Loucas, Tom; Simonoff, Emily; Baird, Gillian

    2009-01-01

    Aim: We undertook this study to explore the degree of impairment in movement skills in children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and a wide IQ range. Method: Movement skills were measured using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) in a large, well defined, population-derived group of children (n=101: 89 males,12 females; mean…

  13. Origins of Balance Disorders during a Daily Living Movement in Obese: Can Biomechanical Factors Explain Everything?

    PubMed Central

    Mignardot, Jean-Baptiste; Olivier, Isabelle; Promayon, Emmanuel; Nougier, Vincent

    2013-01-01

    Obese people suffer from postural deficits and are more subject to falls than their lean counterpart. To improve prevention and post-fall rehabilitation programs, it seems important to better understand the posturo-kinetic disorders in daily life situations by determining the contribution of some key factors, mainly morphological characteristics and physical activity level, in the apparition of these disorders. Twelve severe android obese and eight healthy non obese adults performed a reaching task mobilizing the whole body. To further determine the origin of the postural and motor behavior differences, non obese individuals also performed an experimental session with additional constraints which simulated some of the obese morphological characteristics. Impact of the sedentary lifestyle was also studied by dissociation of the obese in two subgroups: physically « active » and physically « inactive ». Movement kinetics and kinematics were characterized with an optoelectronic system synchronized to a force platform. The mechanical equilibrium pattern was evaluated through the displacements of the Centre of Mass (CoM) and the centre of foot pressure within the Base of Support (BoS). Results showed that obesity decreased movement speed (≈−23%, p<0.01), strongly increased CoM displacement (≈+30%, p<0.05) and induced an important spatio-temporal desynchronization (≈+40%, p<0.05) of the focal and postural components of the movement during the transition between the descending and ascending movements. The role of some morphological characteristics and of physical activity on obese patients' postural control disorder is discussed and set back in the more general context of overall factors contributing to postural deficits with obesity. PMID:23560097

  14. Origins of balance disorders during a daily living movement in obese: can biomechanical factors explain everything?

    PubMed

    Mignardot, Jean-Baptiste; Olivier, Isabelle; Promayon, Emmanuel; Nougier, Vincent

    2013-01-01

    Obese people suffer from postural deficits and are more subject to falls than their lean counterpart. To improve prevention and post-fall rehabilitation programs, it seems important to better understand the posturo-kinetic disorders in daily life situations by determining the contribution of some key factors, mainly morphological characteristics and physical activity level, in the apparition of these disorders. Twelve severe android obese and eight healthy non obese adults performed a reaching task mobilizing the whole body. To further determine the origin of the postural and motor behavior differences, non obese individuals also performed an experimental session with additional constraints which simulated some of the obese morphological characteristics. Impact of the sedentary lifestyle was also studied by dissociation of the obese in two subgroups: physically « active » and physically « inactive ». Movement kinetics and kinematics were characterized with an optoelectronic system synchronized to a force platform. The mechanical equilibrium pattern was evaluated through the displacements of the Centre of Mass (CoM) and the centre of foot pressure within the Base of Support (BoS). Results showed that obesity decreased movement speed (≈-23%, p<0.01), strongly increased CoM displacement (≈+30%, p<0.05) and induced an important spatio-temporal desynchronization (≈+40%, p<0.05) of the focal and postural components of the movement during the transition between the descending and ascending movements. The role of some morphological characteristics and of physical activity on obese patients' postural control disorder is discussed and set back in the more general context of overall factors contributing to postural deficits with obesity.

  15. Behavioral, Cognitive, and Motor Preparation Deficits in a Visual Cued Spatial Attention Task in Autism Spectrum Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Sokhadze, Estate M.; Tasman, Allan; Sokhadze, Guela E.; El-Baz, Ayman S.; Casanova, Manuel F.

    2015-01-01

    Abnormalities in motor skills have been regarded as part of the symptomatology characterizing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It has been estimated that 80% of subjects with autism display “motor dyspraxia” or clumsiness that are not readily identified in a routine neurological examination. In this study we used behavioral measures, event-related potentials (ERP), and lateralized readiness potential (LRP) to study cognitive and motor preparation deficits contributing to the dyspraxia of autism. A modified Posner cueing task was used to analyze motor preparation abnormalities in children with autism and in typically developing children (N=30/per group). In this task, subjects engage in preparing motor response based on a visual cue, and then execute a motor movement based on the subsequent imperative stimulus. The experimental conditions, such as the validity of the cue and the spatial location of the target stimuli were manipulated to influence motor response selection, preparation, and execution. Reaction time and accuracy benefited from validly cued targets in both groups, while main effects of target spatial position were more obvious in the autism group. The main ERP findings were prolonged and more negative early frontal potentials in the ASD in incongruent trials in both types of spatial location. The LRP amplitude was larger in incongruent trials and had stronger effect in the children with ASD. These effects were better expressed at the earlier stages of LRP, specifically those related to response selection, and showed difficulties at the cognitive phase of stimulus processing rather that at the motor execution stage. The LRP measures at different stages reflect the chronology of cognitive aspects of movement preparation and are sensitive to manipulations of cue correctness, thus representing very useful biomarker in autism dyspraxia research. Future studies may use more advance and diverse manipulations of movement preparation demands in testing more

  16. DSM-IV stereotypic movement disorder: persistence of stereotypies of infancy in intellectually normal adolescents and adults.

    PubMed

    Castellanos, F X; Ritchie, G F; Marsh, W L; Rapoport, J L

    1996-03-01

    As part of a broader series of studies on unwanted repetitive behaviors, DSM-IV stereotypic movement disorder (SMD) was examined in an intellectually normal population. Repetitive nonfunctional behaviors, or stereotypies, are expressed during early normal development but have not been described in adults without severe psychiatric or intellectual impairment. Lifetime and current psychiatric Axis I diagnoses were determined by structured and clinical interviews in subjects who responded to a newspaper advertisement that specifically mentioned rocking and head banging. Of 52 potential subjects who were screened by telephone, 32 had been previously diagnosed with an Axis I psychiatric disorder, which presumably accounted for the repetitive behavior, or were otherwise excluded. Of 20 who were interviewed in person, 12 met DSM-IV criteria for SMD; rocking or thumb sucking was present in 8 of these 12. Four of 8 rockers had a first-degree relative who had a lifetime history of a similar repetitive behavior. A lifetime history of an affective or anxiety disorder was found for 11 of 12 SMD subjects. DSM-IV stereotypic movement disorder can be diagnosed in intellectually normal individuals. Although sampling bias was probable, prominent stereotypies in individuals meeting the DSM-IV criteria for stereotypic movement disorder, which are narrower than the DSM-III-R criteria for stereotypy/habit disorder, seem likely to include rocking and thumb sucking. The likelihood of persistence of these behaviors, which are developmentally appropriate in infancy, may be enhanced by comorbidity with anxiety or affective disorders.

  17. The influence of spatial congruency and movement preparation time on saccade curvature in simultaneous and sequential dual-tasks.

    PubMed

    Moehler, Tobias; Fiehler, Katja

    2015-11-01

    Saccade curvature represents a sensitive measure of oculomotor inhibition with saccades curving away from covertly attended locations. Here we investigated whether and how saccade curvature depends on movement preparation time when a perceptual task is performed during or before saccade preparation. Participants performed a dual-task including a visual discrimination task at a cued location and a saccade task to the same location (congruent) or to a different location (incongruent). Additionally, we varied saccade preparation time (time between saccade cue and Go-signal) and the occurrence of the discrimination task (during saccade preparation=simultaneous vs. before saccade preparation=sequential). We found deteriorated perceptual performance in incongruent trials during simultaneous task performance while perceptual performance was unaffected during sequential task performance. Saccade accuracy and precision were deteriorated in incongruent trials during simultaneous and, to a lesser extent, also during sequential task performance. Saccades consistently curved away from covertly attended non-saccade locations. Saccade curvature was unaffected by movement preparation time during simultaneous task performance but decreased and finally vanished with increasing movement preparation time during sequential task performance. Our results indicate that the competing saccade plan to the covertly attended non-saccade location is maintained during simultaneous task performance until the perceptual task is solved while in the sequential condition, in which the discrimination task is solved prior to the saccade task, oculomotor inhibition decays gradually with movement preparation time. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Performance of children with autism spectrum disorder on advanced theory of mind tasks.

    PubMed

    Brent, Ella; Rios, Patricia; Happé, Francesca; Charman, Tony

    2004-09-01

    Although a number of advanced theory of mind tasks have been developed, there is sparse information on whether performance on different tasks is associated. The study examined the performance of 20 high-functioning 6- to 12-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder and 20 controls on three high-level theory of mind tasks: Strange Stories, Cartoons and the children's version of the Eyes task. The pattern of findings suggests that the three tasks may share differing, non-specific, information-processing requirements in addition to tapping any putative mentalizing ability. They may also indicate a degree of dissociation between social-cognitive and social-perceptual or affective components of the mentalizing system.

  19. Task-specific compensation and recovery following focal motor cortex lesion in stressed rats.

    PubMed

    Kirkland, Scott W; Smith, Lori K; Metz, Gerlinde A

    2012-03-01

    One reason for the difficulty to develop effective therapies for stroke is that intrinsic factors, such as stress, may critically influence pathological mechanisms and recovery. In cognitive tasks, stress can both exaggerate and alleviate functional loss after focal ischemia in rodents. Using a comprehensive motor assessment in rats, this study examined if chronic stress and corticosterone treatment affect skill recovery and compensation in a task-specific manner. Groups of rats received daily restraint stress or oral corticosterone supplementation for two weeks prior to a focal motor cortex lesion. After lesion, stress and corticosterone treatments continued for three weeks. Motor performance was assessed in two skilled reaching tasks, skilled walking, forelimb inhibition, forelimb asymmetry and open field behavior. The results revealed that persistent stress and elevated corticosterone levels mainly limit motor recovery. Treated animals dropped larger amounts of food in successful reaches and showed exaggerated loss of forelimb inhibition early after lesion. Stress also caused a moderate, but non-significant increase in infarct size. By contrast, stress and corticosterone treatments promoted reaching success and other quantitative measures in the tray reaching task. Comparative analysis revealed that improvements are due to task-specific development of compensatory strategies. These findings suggest that stress and stress hormones may partially facilitate task-specific and adaptive compensatory movement strategies. The observations support the notion that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation may be a key determinant of recovery and motor system plasticity after ischemic stroke.

  20. Closed-loop brain-machine-body interfaces for noninvasive rehabilitation of movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Broccard, Frédéric D; Mullen, Tim; Chi, Yu Mike; Peterson, David; Iversen, John R; Arnold, Mike; Kreutz-Delgado, Kenneth; Jung, Tzyy-Ping; Makeig, Scott; Poizner, Howard; Sejnowski, Terrence; Cauwenberghs, Gert

    2014-08-01

    Traditional approaches for neurological rehabilitation of patients affected with movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), dystonia, and essential tremor (ET) consist mainly of oral medication, physical therapy, and botulinum toxin injections. Recently, the more invasive method of deep brain stimulation (DBS) showed significant improvement of the physical symptoms associated with these disorders. In the past several years, the adoption of feedback control theory helped DBS protocols to take into account the progressive and dynamic nature of these neurological movement disorders that had largely been ignored so far. As a result, a more efficient and effective management of PD cardinal symptoms has emerged. In this paper, we review closed-loop systems for rehabilitation of movement disorders, focusing on PD, for which several invasive and noninvasive methods have been developed during the last decade, reducing the complications and side effects associated with traditional rehabilitation approaches and paving the way for tailored individual therapeutics. We then present a novel, transformative, noninvasive closed-loop framework based on force neurofeedback and discuss several future developments of closed-loop systems that might bring us closer to individualized solutions for neurological rehabilitation of movement disorders.

  1. Closed-loop Brain-Machine-Body Interfaces for Noninvasive Rehabilitation of Movement Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Broccard, Frédéric D.; Mullen, Tim; Chi, Yu Mike; Peterson, David; Iversen, John R.; Arnold, Mike; Kreutz-Delgado, Kenneth; Jung, Tzyy-Ping; Makeig, Scott; Poizner, Howard; Sejnowski, Terrence; Cauwenberghs, Gert

    2014-01-01

    Traditional approaches for neurological rehabilitation of patients affected with movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), dystonia, and essential tremor (ET) consist mainly of oral medication, physical therapy, and botulinum toxin injections. Recently, the more invasive method of deep brain stimulation (DBS) showed significant improvement of the physical symptoms associated with these disorders. In the past several years, the adoption of feedback control theory helped DBS protocols to take into account the progressive and dynamic nature of these neurological movement disorders that had largely been ignored so far. As a result, a more efficient and effective management of PD cardinal symptoms has emerged. In this paper, we review closed-loop systems for rehabilitation of movement disorders, focusing on PD, for which several invasive and noninvasive methods have been developed during the last decade, reducing the complications and side effects associated with traditional rehabilitation approaches and paving the way for tailored individual therapeutics. We then present a novel, transformative, noninvasive closed-loop framework based on force neurofeedback and discuss several future developments of closed-loop systems that might bring us closer to individualized solutions for neurological rehabilitation of movement disorders. PMID:24833254

  2. Oral Motor Abilities Are Task Dependent: A Factor Analytic Approach to Performance Rate.

    PubMed

    Staiger, Anja; Schölderle, Theresa; Brendel, Bettina; Bötzel, Kai; Ziegler, Wolfram

    2017-01-01

    Measures of performance rates in speech-like or volitional nonspeech oral motor tasks are frequently used to draw inferences about articulation rate abnormalities in patients with neurologic movement disorders. The study objective was to investigate the structural relationship between rate measures of speech and of oral motor behaviors different from speech. A total of 130 patients with neurologic movement disorders and 130 healthy subjects participated in the study. Rate data was collected for oral reading (speech), rapid syllable repetition (speech-like), and rapid single articulator movements (nonspeech). The authors used factor analysis to determine whether the different rate variables reflect the same or distinct constructs. The behavioral data were most appropriately captured by a measurement model in which the different task types loaded onto separate latent variables. The data on oral motor performance rates show that speech tasks and oral motor tasks such as rapid syllable repetition or repetitive single articulator movements measure separate traits.

  3. More Than Ataxia: Hyperkinetic Movement Disorders in Childhood Autosomal Recessive Ataxia Syndromes.

    PubMed

    Pearson, Toni S

    2016-01-01

    The autosomal recessive ataxias are a heterogeneous group of disorders that are characterized by complex neurological features in addition to progressive ataxia. Hyperkinetic movement disorders occur in a significant proportion of patients, and may sometimes be the presenting motor symptom. Presentations with involuntary movements rather than ataxia are diagnostically challenging, and are likely under-recognized. A PubMed literature search was performed in October 2015 utilizing pairwise combinations of disease-related terms (autosomal recessive ataxia, ataxia-telangiectasia, ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 1 (AOA1), ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2 (AOA2), Friedreich ataxia, ataxia with vitamin E deficiency), and symptom-related terms (movement disorder, dystonia, chorea, choreoathetosis, myoclonus). Involuntary movements occur in the majority of patients with ataxia-telangiectasia and AOA1, and less frequently in patients with AOA2, Friedreich ataxia, and ataxia with vitamin E deficiency. Clinical presentations with an isolated hyperkinetic movement disorder in the absence of ataxia include dystonia or dystonia with myoclonus with predominant upper limb and cervical involvement (ataxia-telangiectasia, ataxia with vitamin E deficiency), and generalized chorea (ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 1, ataxia-telangiectasia). An awareness of atypical presentations facilitates early and accurate diagnosis in these challenging cases. Recognition of involuntary movements is important not only for diagnosis, but also because of the potential for effective targeted symptomatic treatment.

  4. Task Specific Tremors.

    PubMed

    Friedman, Joseph H

    2015-07-01

    A patient reported bilateral hand tremors when writing but not with other tasks. These "task specific" tremors are considered subcategories of essential tremor. Primary writing tremor, in which the tremor occurs only with writing, is probably the most common. The important teaching point is that the "standard" tremor assessment, watching the patient holding a sustained posture and touching his finger to the examiner's and then back to the nose is not adequate. Patients should be tested doing the activity that causes them the most difficulty.

  5. Control of movement distance in Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Pfann, K D; Buchman, A S; Comella, C L; Corcos, D M

    2001-11-01

    Studies of electromyographic (EMG) patterns during movements in Parkinson's disease (PD) have often yielded contradictory results, making it impossible to derive a set of rules to explain how muscles are activated to perform different movement tasks. We sought to clarify the changes in modulation of EMG parameters associated with control of movement distance during fast movements in patients with PD. Specifically, we studied surface EMG activity during rapid elbow flexion movements over a wide range of distances (5-72 degrees) in 14 patients with relatively mild symptoms of PD and 14 control subjects of similar age, sex, height, and weight. The PD group exhibited several changes in EMG modulation including impaired modulation of agonist burst duration; increased number of agonist bursts; reduced scaling of agonist EMG magnitude in the more severely impaired subjects; and increased temporal overlap of the antagonist and agonist signals in the most severely impaired subjects. These findings suggest that progressive motor dysfunction in PD is accompanied by increasing deficits in modulating muscle activation. These results help clarify previous disparate and sometimes contradictory results of EMG patterns in subjects with PD. Copyright 2001 Movement Disorder Society.

  6. Voluntary or involuntary? A neurophysiologic approach to functional movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Stenner, M-P; Haggard, P

    2016-01-01

    Patients with functional movement disorders (FMD) experience movements as involuntary that share fundamental characteristics with voluntary actions. This apparent paradox raises questions regarding the possible sources of a subjective experience of action. In addition, it poses a yet unresolved diagnostic challenge, namely how to describe or even quantify this experience in a scientifically and clinically useful way. Here, we describe recent experimental approaches that have shed light on the phenomenology of action in FMD. We first outline the sources and content of a subjective experience of action in healthy humans and discuss how this experience may be created in the brain. Turning to FMD, we describe implicit, behavioral measures that have revealed specific abnormalities in the awareness of action in FMD. Based on these abnormalities, we propose a potential, new solution to the paradox of volition in FMD. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Pseudobulbar affect: prevalence and quality of life impact in movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Strowd, Roy E; Cartwright, Michael S; Okun, Michael S; Haq, Ihtsham; Siddiqui, Mustafa S

    2010-08-01

    Pseudobulbar affect (PBA) is an affective disinhibition syndrome characterized by sudden, involuntary outbursts of inappropriate crying or laughing. We have previously reported the prevalence of PBA in movement disorders using an interviewer-administered questionnaire that had not been validated. In the current study, a validated self-administered screening instrument, the Center for Neurologic Study-Lability Scale (CNS-LS), was used to study the prevalence of PBA, its association with mood symptoms, and the quality of life impact. Two hundred sixty-nine patients met inclusion criteria (consent, age > 18 years, formal diagnosis, and completion of the CNS-LS). The CNS-LS was used to assess PBA at a cutoff score of 17 (utilized from multiple sclerosis studies). The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale and Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-39) were used to assess depressive symptoms and quality of life. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict associations with PBA. PBA was prevalent in 7.1% (n = 19) of movement disorder patients. No significant difference in prevalence was observed by patient diagnosis: 7.1% (12/168) in Parkinson's disease (PD), 11.4% (4/35) in essential tremor, 0% (0/13) in dystonia, 0% (0/16) in psychogenic movement disorders, and 10.7% (3/28) in patients with other movement disorders. Patients with PBA had higher BDI depression scores (p < 0.0001) and lower PDQ-39 emotional well-being subscores (p < 0.0001). Patients taking antidepressant medications had significantly higher rates of PBA (p = 0.0008). The prevalence of PBA symptoms was 7.1% in PD and all movement disorders patients. Patients with PBA tend to have more depressive symptoms and poorer quality of life.

  8. Attentional blink in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Influence of eye movements.

    PubMed

    Armstrong, I T; Munoz, D P

    2003-09-01

    The attentional blink paradigm tests attention by overloading it: a list of stimuli is presented very rapidly one after another at the same location on a computer screen, each item overwriting the last, and participants monitor the list using two criteria [e.g. detect the target (red letter) and identify the probe (letter p)]. If the interval between the target and the probe is greater than about 500 ms, both are usually reported correctly, but, when the interval between the target and the probe is within 200-500 ms, report of the probe declines. This decline is the attentional blink, an interval of time when attention is supposedly switching from the first criterion to the second. The attentional blink paradigm should be difficult to perform correctly without vigilantly attending to the rapidly presented list. Vigilance tasks are often used to assess attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Symptoms of the disorder include hyperactivity and attentional dysfunction; however, some people with ADHD also have difficulty maintaining gaze at a fixed location. We tested 15 adults with ADHD and their age- and sex-matched controls, measuring accuracy and gaze stability during the attentional blink task. ADHD participants reported fewer targets and probes, took longer to recover from the attentional blink, made more eye movements, and made identification errors consistent with non-perception of the letter list. In contrast, errors made by control participants were consistent with guessing (i.e., report of a letter immediately preceding or succeeding the correct letter). Excessive eye movements result in poorer performance for all participants; however, error patterns confirm that the weak performance of ADHD participants may be related to gaze instability as well as to attentional dysfunction.

  9. The promises of stem cells: stem cell therapy for movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Mochizuki, Hideki; Choong, Chi-Jing; Yasuda, Toru

    2014-01-01

    Despite the multitude of intensive research, the exact pathophysiological mechanisms underlying movement disorders including Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and Huntington's disease remain more or less elusive. Treatments to halt these disease progressions are currently unavailable. With the recent induced pluripotent stem cells breakthrough and accomplishment, stem cell research, as the vast majority of scientists agree, holds great promise for relieving and treating debilitating movement disorders. As stem cells are the precursors of all cells in the human body, an understanding of the molecular mechanisms that govern how they develop and work would provide us many fundamental insights into human biology of health and disease. Moreover, stem-cell-derived neurons may be a renewable source of replacement cells for damaged neurons in movement disorders. While stem cells show potential for regenerative medicine, their use as tools for research and drug testing is thought to have more immediate impact. The use of stem-cell-based drug screening technology could be a big boost in drug discovery for these movement disorders. Particular attention should also be given to the involvement of neural stem cells in adult neurogenesis so as to encourage its development as a therapeutic option. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Linkage between Free Exploratory Movements and Subjective Tactile Ratings.

    PubMed

    Yokosaka, Takumi; Kuroki, Scinob; Watanabe, Junji; Nishida, Shinya

    2017-01-01

    We actively move our hands and eyes when exploring the external world and gaining information about object's attributes. Previous studies showing that how we touch might be related to how we felt led us to consider whether we could decode observers' subjective tactile experiences only by analyzing their exploratory movements without explicitly asking how they perceived. However, in those studies, explicit judgment tasks were performed about specific tactile attributes that were prearranged by experimenters. Here, we systematically investigated whether exploratory movements can explain tactile ratings even when participants do not need to judge any tactile attributes. While measuring both hand and eye movements, we asked participants to touch materials freely without judging any specific tactile attributes (free-touch task) or to evaluate one of four tactile attributes (roughness, hardness, slipperiness, and temperature). We found that tactile ratings in the judgment tasks correlated with exploratory movements even in the free-touch task and that eye movements as well as hand movements correlated with tactile ratings. These results might open up the possibility of decoding tactile experiences by exploratory movements.

  11. Thoughts on selected movement disorder terminology and a plea for clarity.

    PubMed

    Walker, Ruth H

    2013-01-01

    Description of the phenomenology of movement disorders requires precise and accurate terminology. Many of the terms that have been widely used in the literature are imprecise and open to interpretation. An examination of these terms and the assumptions implicit in their usage is important to improve communication and hence the definition, diagnosis, and treatment of movement disorders. I recommend that the term dyskinesia should be used primarily in the settings of Parkinson's disease and tardive dyskinesia, in which its clinical implications are relatively clear; it should not be used in other situations where a precise description could more usefully facilitate diagnosis and treatment. In general dyskinesia should be used in the singular form. Extrapyramidal is based upon obsolete anatomical concepts, is uninformative, and should be discarded. The term abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs) is similarly vague and uninformative, although is unlikely to be eliminated from the psychiatric literature. Movement disorder neurologists as teachers, clinicians, article reviewers, and journal editors have the responsibility to educate our colleagues regarding appropriate usage and the importance of employing correct descriptors.

  12. The adaptive nature of eye movements in linguistic tasks: how payoff and architecture shape speed-accuracy trade-offs.

    PubMed

    Lewis, Richard L; Shvartsman, Michael; Singh, Satinder

    2013-07-01

    We explore the idea that eye-movement strategies in reading are precisely adapted to the joint constraints of task structure, task payoff, and processing architecture. We present a model of saccadic control that separates a parametric control policy space from a parametric machine architecture, the latter based on a small set of assumptions derived from research on eye movements in reading (Engbert, Nuthmann, Richter, & Kliegl, 2005; Reichle, Warren, & McConnell, 2009). The eye-control model is embedded in a decision architecture (a machine and policy space) that is capable of performing a simple linguistic task integrating information across saccades. Model predictions are derived by jointly optimizing the control of eye movements and task decisions under payoffs that quantitatively express different desired speed-accuracy trade-offs. The model yields distinct eye-movement predictions for the same task under different payoffs, including single-fixation durations, frequency effects, accuracy effects, and list position effects, and their modulation by task payoff. The predictions are compared to-and found to accord with-eye-movement data obtained from human participants performing the same task under the same payoffs, but they are found not to accord as well when the assumptions concerning payoff optimization and processing architecture are varied. These results extend work on rational analysis of oculomotor control and adaptation of reading strategy (Bicknell & Levy, ; McConkie, Rayner, & Wilson, 1973; Norris, 2009; Wotschack, 2009) by providing evidence for adaptation at low levels of saccadic control that is shaped by quantitatively varying task demands and the dynamics of processing architecture. Copyright © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  13. Molecular Imaging and Precision Medicine in Dementia and Movement Disorders.

    PubMed

    Mallik, Atul K; Drzezga, Alexander; Minoshima, Satoshi

    2017-01-01

    Precision medicine (PM) has been defined as "prevention and treatment strategies that take individual variability into account." Molecular imaging (MI) is an ideally suited tool for PM approaches to neurodegenerative dementia and movement disorders (MD). Here we review PM approaches and discuss how they may be applied to other associated neurodegenerative dementia and MD. With ongoing major therapeutic research initiatives that include the use of molecular imaging, we look forward to established interventions targeted to specific molecular pathophysiology and expect the potential benefit of MI PM approaches in neurodegenerative dementia and MD will only increase. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. A novel protocol to evaluate ankle movements during reaching tasks using pediAnklebot.

    PubMed

    Martelli, Francesca; Palermo, Eduardo; Rossi, Stefano

    2017-07-01

    The aim of the study is to design a novel protocol to characterize the ankle movements during dorsal and plantar flexion reaching tasks using the pediAnklebot. Five healthy children were instructed to control a pointer and hit targets appearing on the monitor, by moving their ankle alternatively up and down. The protocol consisted of 60 targets, 30 up and 30 down, reachable via dorsiflexion and plantarflexion movements, respectively. Ankle angular displacements and torques were gathered by encoders and load cells embedded in the robot. Ankle motor performance was evaluated by means of kinematic, submovements and dynamic indices. Results suggest that (i) plantarflexion movements are faster and more accurate than the dorsiflexion ones, but children are able to perform with a higher level of smoothness the latter ones; (ii) children are able to stop the ankle movement more easily at the end of dorsiflexion rather than plantarflexion; (iii) the central nervous system plans plantarflexion and dorsiflexion movements with the same efficiency; (iv) children apply different torque levels during the two motor tasks and they cannot balance the inversion and eversion moments during dorsiflexion. These findings provide an important starting point for the assessment of a reference baseline of motor indices for the ankle joint.

  15. Eye Movement in Unipolar and Bipolar Depression: A Systematic Review of the Literature

    PubMed Central

    Carvalho, Nicolas; Laurent, Eric; Noiret, Nicolas; Chopard, Gilles; Haffen, Emmanuel; Bennabi, Djamila; Vandel, Pierre

    2015-01-01

    Background: The analysis of eye movements (EM) by eye-tracking has been carried out for several decades to investigate mood regulation, emotional information processing, and psychomotor disturbances in depressive disorders. Method: A systematic review of all English language PubMed articles using the terms “saccadic eye movements” OR “eye-tracking” AND “depression” OR “bipolar disorders” was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. The aim of this review was to characterize the specific alterations of EM in unipolar and bipolar depression. Results: Findings regarding psychomotor disturbance showed an increase in reaction time in prosaccade and antisaccade tasks in both unipolar and bipolar disorders. In both disorders, patients have been reported to have an attraction for negative emotions, especially for negative pictures in unipolar and threatening images in bipolar disorder. However, the pattern could change with aging, elderly unipolar patients disengaging key features of sad and neutral stimuli. Methodological limitations generally include small sample sizes with mixed unipolar and bipolar depressed patients. Conclusion: Eye movement analysis can be used to discriminate patients with depressive disorders from controls, as well as patients with bipolar disorder from patients with unipolar depression. General knowledge concerning psychomotor alterations and affective regulation strategies associated with each disorder can also be gained thanks to the analysis. Future directions for research on eye movement and depression are proposed in this review. PMID:26696915

  16. The effect of concurrent hand movement on estimated time to contact in a prediction motion task.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Ran; Maraj, Brian K V

    2018-04-27

    In many activities, we need to predict the arrival of an occluded object. This action is called prediction motion or motion extrapolation. Previous researchers have found that both eye tracking and the internal clocking model are involved in the prediction motion task. Additionally, it is reported that concurrent hand movement facilitates the eye tracking of an externally generated target in a tracking task, even if the target is occluded. The present study examined the effect of concurrent hand movement on the estimated time to contact in a prediction motion task. We found different (accurate/inaccurate) concurrent hand movements had the opposite effect on the eye tracking accuracy and estimated TTC in the prediction motion task. That is, the accurate concurrent hand tracking enhanced eye tracking accuracy and had the trend to increase the precision of estimated TTC, but the inaccurate concurrent hand tracking decreased eye tracking accuracy and disrupted estimated TTC. However, eye tracking accuracy does not determine the precision of estimated TTC.

  17. Imitation of body postures and hand movements in children with specific language impairment.

    PubMed

    Marton, Klara

    2009-01-01

    Within the domain-general theory of language impairment, this study examined body posture and hand movement imitation in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and in their age-matched peers. Participants included 40 children with SLI (5 years 3 months to 6 years 10 months of age) and 40 children with typical language development (5 years 3 months to 6 years 7 months of age). Five tests were used to examine imitation and its underlying cognitive and motor skills such as kinesthesia, working memory, and gross motor coordination. It was hypothesized that children with SLI show a weakness in imitation of body postures and that this deficit is not equally influenced by the underlying cognitive and motor skills. There was a group effect in each cognitive and motor task, but only gross motor coordination proved to be a strong predictor of imitation in children with SLI. In contrast, hand movement imitation was strongly predicted by performance in the Kinesthesia task in typically developing children. Thus, the findings show not only that children with SLI performed more poorly on the imitation tasks than their typically developing peers but also that the groups' performances showed qualitative differences. The results of the current study provide additional support to the view that the weaknesses in children with SLI are not limited to the verbal domain.

  18. Sensitivity and specificity of the Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised in the identification of speech sound disorder.

    PubMed

    Barrozo, Tatiane Faria; Pagan-Neves, Luciana de Oliveira; Pinheiro da Silva, Joyce; Wertzner, Haydée Fiszbein

    2017-05-22

    The purpose of the study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity, and to establish cutoff points for the severity index Percentage of Consonants Correct - Revised (PCC-R) in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children with and without speech sound disorders. 72 children between 5:00 and 7:11 years old - 36 children without speech and language complaints and 36 children with speech sound disorders. The PCC-R was applied to the figure naming and word imitation tasks that are part of the ABFW Child Language Test. Results were statistically analyzed. The ROC curve was performed and sensitivity and specificity values ​​of the index were verified. The group of children without speech sound disorders presented greater PCC-R values in both tasks, regardless of the gender of the participants. The cutoff value observed for the picture naming task was 93.4%, with a sensitivity value of 0.89 and specificity of 0.94 (age independent). For the word imitation task, results were age-dependent: for age group ≤6:5 years old, the cutoff value was 91.0% (sensitivity of 0.77 and specificity of 0.94) and for age group >6:5 years-old, the cutoff value was 93.9% (sensitivity of 0.93 and specificity of 0.94). Given the high sensitivity and specificity of PCC-R, we can conclude that the index was effective in discriminating and identifying children with and without speech sound disorders.

  19. Cannabidiol as a Promising Strategy to Treat and Prevent Movement Disorders?

    PubMed Central

    Peres, Fernanda F.; Lima, Alvaro C.; Hallak, Jaime E. C.; Crippa, José A.; Silva, Regina H.; Abílio, Vanessa C.

    2018-01-01

    Movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and dyskinesia are highly debilitating conditions linked to oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. When available, the pharmacological therapies for these disorders are still mainly symptomatic, do not benefit all patients and induce severe side effects. Cannabidiol is a non-psychotomimetic compound from Cannabis sativa that presents antipsychotic, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. Although the studies that investigate the effects of this compound on movement disorders are surprisingly few, cannabidiol emerges as a promising compound to treat and/or prevent them. Here, we review these clinical and pre-clinical studies and draw attention to the potential of cannabidiol in this field. PMID:29867488

  20. Effects of a cognitive dual task on variability and local dynamic stability in sustained repetitive arm movements using principal component analysis: a pilot study.

    PubMed

    Longo, Alessia; Federolf, Peter; Haid, Thomas; Meulenbroek, Ruud

    2018-06-01

    In many daily jobs, repetitive arm movements are performed for extended periods of time under continuous cognitive demands. Even highly monotonous tasks exhibit an inherent motor variability and subtle fluctuations in movement stability. Variability and stability are different aspects of system dynamics, whose magnitude may be further affected by a cognitive load. Thus, the aim of the study was to explore and compare the effects of a cognitive dual task on the variability and local dynamic stability in a repetitive bimanual task. Thirteen healthy volunteers performed the repetitive motor task with and without a concurrent cognitive task of counting aloud backwards in multiples of three. Upper-body 3D kinematics were collected and postural reconfigurations-the variability related to the volunteer's postural change-were determined through a principal component analysis-based procedure. Subsequently, the most salient component was selected for the analysis of (1) cycle-to-cycle spatial and temporal variability, and (2) local dynamic stability as reflected by the largest Lyapunov exponent. Finally, end-point variability was evaluated as a control measure. The dual cognitive task proved to increase the temporal variability and reduce the local dynamic stability, marginally decrease endpoint variability, and substantially lower the incidence of postural reconfigurations. Particularly, the latter effect is considered to be relevant for the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders since reduced variability in sustained repetitive tasks might increase the risk of overuse injuries.

  1. Paraneoplastic disorders of eye movements

    PubMed Central

    Wray, Shirley H.; Dalmau, Josep; Chen, Athena; King, Susan; Leigh, R. John

    2011-01-01

    Paraneoplastic syndromes affecting the brainstem and cerebellum are reported to cause a variety of abnormalities of eye movements. Recent studies have begun to account for the mechanisms underlying several syndromes, characterized by opsoclonus, slow, or dysmetric saccades, as well as downbeat nystagmus. We provide evidence that upbeat nystagmus in a patient with pancreatic cancer reflected a cerebellar-induced imbalance of otolithic pathways: she showed marked retropulsion, and her nystagmus was dependent on head position, being absent when supine, and suppressed with convergence. In addition to anti-Hu antibodies, we demonstrated antibodies to a novel neuronal cell surface antigen. Taken with other recent studies, our findings suggest that paraneoplastic syndromes arise due to antibodies against surface neuronal antigens, including receptors and channels. Abnormal eye movements in paraneoplastic syndromes offer insights into the pathogenesis of these disorders and the opportunity to test potential therapies, such as new drugs with effects on neuronal channels. PMID:21951005

  2. Basal ganglia, movement disorders and deep brain stimulation: advances made through non-human primate research.

    PubMed

    Wichmann, Thomas; Bergman, Hagai; DeLong, Mahlon R

    2018-03-01

    Studies in non-human primates (NHPs) have led to major advances in our understanding of the function of the basal ganglia and of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of hypokinetic movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and hyperkinetic disorders such as chorea and dystonia. Since the brains of NHPs are anatomically very close to those of humans, disease states and the effects of medical and surgical approaches, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS), can be more faithfully modeled in NHPs than in other species. According to the current model of the basal ganglia circuitry, which was strongly influenced by studies in NHPs, the basal ganglia are viewed as components of segregated networks that emanate from specific cortical areas, traverse the basal ganglia, and ventral thalamus, and return to the frontal cortex. Based on the presumed functional domains of the different cortical areas involved, these networks are designated as 'motor', 'oculomotor', 'associative' and 'limbic' circuits. The functions of these networks are strongly modulated by the release of dopamine in the striatum. Striatal dopamine release alters the activity of striatal projection neurons which, in turn, influences the (inhibitory) basal ganglia output. In parkinsonism, the loss of striatal dopamine results in the emergence of oscillatory burst patterns of firing of basal ganglia output neurons, increased synchrony of the discharge of neighboring basal ganglia neurons, and an overall increase in basal ganglia output. The relevance of these findings is supported by the demonstration, in NHP models of parkinsonism, of the antiparkinsonian effects of inactivation of the motor circuit at the level of the subthalamic nucleus, one of the major components of the basal ganglia. This finding also contributed strongly to the revival of the use of surgical interventions to treat patients with Parkinson's disease. While ablative procedures were first used for this purpose, they have now been largely

  3. Impairment in emotion perception from body movements in individuals with bipolar I and bipolar II disorder is associated with functional capacity.

    PubMed

    Vaskinn, Anja; Lagerberg, Trine Vik; Bjella, Thomas D; Simonsen, Carmen; Andreassen, Ole A; Ueland, Torill; Sundet, Kjetil

    2017-12-01

    Individuals with bipolar disorder present with moderate impairments in social cognition during the euthymic state. The impairment extends to theory of mind and to the perception of emotion in faces and voices, but it is unclear if emotion perception from body movements is affected. The main aim of this study was to examine if participants with bipolar disorder perform worse than healthy control participants on a task using point-light displays of human full figures moving in a manner indicative of a basic emotion (angry, happy, sad, fearful, neutral/no emotion). A secondary research question was whether diagnostic subtypes (bipolar I, bipolar II) and history of psychosis impacted on this type of emotion perception. Finally, symptomatic, neurocognitive, and functional correlates of emotion perception from body movements were investigated. Fifty-three individuals with bipolar I (n = 29) or bipolar II (n = 24) disorder, and 84 healthy control participants were assessed for emotion perception from body movements. The bipolar group also underwent clinical, cognitive, and functional assessment. Research questions were analyzed using analyses of variance and bivariate correlations. The bipolar disorder group differed significantly from healthy control participants for emotion perception from body movements (Cohen's d = 0.40). Analyses of variance yielded no effects of sex, diagnostic subtype (bipolar I, bipolar II), or history of psychosis. There was an effect of emotion, indicating that some emotions are easier to recognize. The lack of a significant group × emotion interaction effect points, however, to this being so regardless of the presence of bipolar disorder. Performance was unrelated to manic and depressive symptom load but showed significant associations with neurocognition and functional capacity. Individuals with bipolar disorder had a small but significant impairment in the ability to perceive emotions from body movement. The impairment was global, i

  4. Hyperkinetic movement disorder in a child treated by globus pallidus stimulation.

    PubMed

    Sato, Ken; Nakagawa, Eiji; Saito, Yoshiaki; Komaki, Hirofumi; Sakuma, Hiroshi; Sugai, Kenji; Sasaki, Masayuki; Kaido, Takanobu; Nakama, Hideyuki; Otsuki, Taisuke

    2009-06-01

    We report herein the case of a 9-year-old girl with life-threatening hyperkinetic involuntary movement of unknown etiology. Medical treatment was ineffective for her stereotypy and choreoathetotic/ballistic movements, but bilateral stimulation of the globus pallidus immediately alleviated these symptoms. Pallidal deep-brain stimulation may be considered the therapy of choice for children with intractable hyperkinetic movement disorders.

  5. Multiple forms of rhythmic movements in an adolescent boy with rhythmic movement disorder.

    PubMed

    Su, Changjun; Miao, Jianting; Liu, Yu; Liu, Rui; Lei, Gesheng; Zhang, Wei; Yang, Ting; Li, Zhuyi

    2009-12-01

    Rhythmic movement disorder (RMD) refers to a group of stereotyped, repetitive movements involving large muscles, usually occurring prior to the onset of sleep and persisting into sleep. RMD more commonly exhibits only one or two forms of rhythmic movements (RM) in most reported cases. However, multiple RM forms of RMD occurring in a patient in the same night have rarely been reported. In this report, we present the unique case of a 15-year-old boy with RMD affected by multiple forms of RM in the same night, including four known forms (i.e., body rocking, head banging, leg rolling, and rhythmic feet movements) and two new kinds of RM (bilateral rhythmic arm rocking and rhythmic hands movements). Two video-polysomnographic recordings were performed in this patient before starting pharmacologic treatment and after long-term oral clonazepam treatment (1.0mg nightly for 3 months). The characteristics of RMD with multiple RM forms and the effectiveness of clonazepam on the RM episodes and polysomnographic findings observed in our patient are discussed. This report raises the fact that a patient with RMD may present with multiple complex rhythmic movements disrupting sleep, which emphasizes that better understanding of the clinical features of complex rhythmic movements during sleep in primary care settings is essential for early clinical diagnosis and optimal management.

  6. Are smooth pursuit eye movements altered in chronic whiplash-associated disorders? A cross-sectional study.

    PubMed

    Kongsted, A; Jørgensen, L V; Bendix, T; Korsholm, L; Leboeuf-Yde, C

    2007-11-01

    To evaluate whether smooth pursuit eye movements differed between patients with long-lasting whiplash-associated disorders and controls when using a purely computerized method for the eye movement analysis. Cross-sectional study comparing patients with whiplash-associated disorders and controls who had not been exposed to head or neck trauma and had no notable neck complaints. Smooth pursuit eye movements were registered while the subjects were seated with and without rotated cervical spine. Thirty-four patients with whiplash-associated disorders with symptoms more than six months after a car collision and 60 controls. Smooth pursuit eye movements were almost identical in patients with chronic whiplash-associated disorders and controls, both when the neck was rotated and in the neutral position. Disturbed smooth pursuit eye movements do not appear to be a distinct feature in patients with chronic whiplash-associated disorders. This is in contrast to results of previous studies and may be due to the fact that analyses were performed in a computerized and objective manner. Other possible reasons for the discrepancy to previous studies are discussed.

  7. The influence of gender-specific loading patterns of the stop-jump task on anterior cruciate ligament strain.

    PubMed

    Weinhold, Paul S; Stewart, Jason-Dennis N; Liu, Hsin-Yi; Lin, Cheng-Feng; Garrett, William E; Yu, Bing

    2007-08-01

    Studies have shown that women are at higher risk of sustaining noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in specific sports. Recent gait studies of athletic tasks have documented that gender differences in knee movement, muscle activation, and external loading patterns exist. The objective of this study was to determine in a knee cadaver model if application of female-specific loading and movement patterns characterised in vivo for a stop-jump task cause higher ACL strains than male patterns. Gender-specific loading patterns of the landing phase of the vertical stop-jump task were applied to seven cadaver knees using published kinetic/kinematic results for recreational athletes. Loads applied consecutively included: tibial compression, quadriceps, hamstrings, external posterior tibial shear, and tibial torque. Knee flexion was fixed based on the kinematic data. Strain of the ACL was monitored by means of a differential variable reluctance transducer installed on the anterior-medial bundle of the ACL. The ACL strain was significantly increased (P<0.05) for the female loading pattern relative to the male loading pattern after the posterior tibial shear force was applied, and showed a similar trend (P=0.1) to be increased after the final tibial torque was applied. This study suggests that female motor control strategies used during the stop-jump task may place higher strains on the ACL than male strategies, thus putting females at greater risk of ACL injury. We believe these results suggest the potential effectiveness of using training programs to modify motor control strategies and thus modify the risk of injury.

  8. Probing behavioral responses to food: development of a food-specific go/no-go task.

    PubMed

    Teslovich, Theresa; Freidl, Eve K; Kostro, Katrina; Weigel, Julia; Davidow, Juliet Y; Riddle, Megan C; Helion, Chelsea; Dreyfuss, Michael; Rosenbaum, Michael; Walsh, B Timothy; Casey, Betty Jo; Mayer, Laurel

    2014-09-30

    The ability to exert self-control in the face of appetitive, alluring cues is a critical component of healthy development. The development of behavioral measures that use disease-relevant stimuli can greatly improve our understanding of cue-specific impairments in self-control. To produce such a tool relevant to the study of eating and weight disorders, we modified the traditional go/no-go task to include food and non-food targets. To confirm that performance on this new task was consistent with other go/no-go tasks, it was given to 147 healthy, normal weight volunteers between the ages of 5 and 30. High-resolution photos of food or toys were used as the target and nontarget stimuli. Consistent with expectations, overall improvements in accuracy were seen from childhood to adulthood. Participants responded more quickly and made more commission errors to food cues compared to nonfood cues (F(1,140)=21.76, P<0.001), although no behavioral differences were seen between low- and high-calorie food cues for this non-obese, healthy developmental sample. This novel food-specific go/no-go task may be used to track the development of self-control in the context of food cues and to evaluate deviations or deficits in the development of this ability in individuals at risk for eating problem behaviors and disorders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Movement disorders in a twins pair: a casual expression or genetic determination?

    PubMed

    Gennaro, Leonarda; Russo, Luigi; Losito, Luciana; Zaccaria, Alessia; De Rinaldis, Marta; Trabacca, Antonio

    2010-01-01

    A twin study is an excellent means of assessing the contribution of heritability to motor behaviour. We present a movement video-analysis of a monozygotic twins pair with a motor repertoire which is almost totally constituted by persistent and subcontinuous motor stereotypies. The specific aim of this study is to verify the heritable quantum of motor behaviour and to determine which among the motor patterns we analysed are more likely to be conditioned by inheritance. Stereotyped movements were videotaped in two standardized sessions: at rest and in relation to preordained sensory stimulations. We estimated the concordance index (CI) between the observers to evaluate the reliability of the observations. The validity was accepted as being CI>0.80. The results showed a very high concordance rate (>90%) for all the stereotypies analysed. An almost superimposable trend of the stereotyped movements was found both at rest and in relation to the sensory stimulations. Such strong data suggest that genetic factors have a primary influence on all the movement disorders analysed. This study contributes to a better understanding of the complex relationships between genes and functions. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. The Use of Wearable Microsensors to Quantify Sport-Specific Movements.

    PubMed

    Chambers, Ryan; Gabbett, Tim J; Cole, Michael H; Beard, Adam

    2015-07-01

    Microtechnology has allowed sport scientists to understand the locomotor demands of various sports. While wearable global positioning technology has been used to quantify the locomotor demands of sporting activities, microsensors (i.e. accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers) embedded within the units also have the capability to detect sport-specific movements. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which microsensors (also referred to as inertial measurement units and microelectromechanical sensors) have been utilised in quantifying sport-specific movements. A systematic review of the use of microsensors and associated terms to evaluate sport-specific movements was conducted; permutations of the terms used included alternate names of the various technologies used, their applications and different applied environments. Studies for this review were published between 2008 and 2014 and were identified through a systematic search of six electronic databases: Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science. Articles were required to have used athlete-mounted sensors to detect sport-specific movements (e.g. rugby union tackle) rather than sensors mounted to equipment and monitoring generic movement patterns. A total of 2395 studies were initially retrieved from the six databases and 737 results were removed as they were duplicates, review articles or conference abstracts. After screening titles and abstracts of the remaining papers, the full text of 47 papers was reviewed, resulting in the inclusion of 28 articles that met the set criteria around the application of microsensors for detecting sport-specific movements. Eight articles addressed the use of microsensors within individual sports, team sports provided seven results, water sports provided eight articles, and five articles addressed the use of microsensors in snow sports. All articles provided evidence of the ability of microsensors to detect sport-specific

  11. Eye movements show similar adaptations in temporal coordination to movement planning conditions in both people with and without cerebral palsy.

    PubMed

    Payne, Alexander R; Plimmer, Beryl; McDaid, Andrew; Davies, T Claire

    2017-05-01

    The effects of cerebral palsy on movement planning for simple reaching tasks are not well understood. Movement planning is complex and entails many processes which could be affected. This study specifically sought to evaluate integrating task information, decoupling movements, and adjusting to altered mapping. For a reaching task, the asynchrony between the eye onset and the hand onset was measured across different movement planning conditions for participants with and without cerebral palsy. Previous research shows people without cerebral palsy vary this temporal coordination for different planning conditions. Our measurements show similar adaptations in temporal coordination for groups with and without cerebral palsy, to three of the four variations in planning condition tested. However, movement durations were still longer for the participants with cerebral palsy. Hence for simple goal-directed reaching, movement execution problems appear to limit activity more than movement planning deficits.

  12. Expressive writing and eating disorder features: a preliminary trial in a student sample of the impact of three writing tasks on eating disorder symptoms and associated cognitive, affective and interpersonal factors.

    PubMed

    East, Philippa; Startup, Helen; Roberts, Clifford; Schmidt, Ulrike

    2010-05-01

    To evaluate the impact of three writing tasks on the cognitive, affective and interpersonal factors typically associated with eating disorder symptoms, in a student population. Two experimental tasks and one control task were evaluated. Participants gave subjective ratings of the writing experience, and objective questionnaire measures were administered at baseline, and 4- and 8-week follow-up. Participants who dropped out without completing the writing tasks were more experientially avoidant. The three tasks differed significantly in subjective impact, and the experimental tasks were most effective in reducing eating disorder symptoms. They also ameliorated some key features associated with eating difficulties. The control task generally had less, no or a detrimental effect. The results provide preliminary indirect support for the use of therapeutic writing to address specific features associated with the eating disorder presentation. Further research is required to replicate the present findings and extend these to the clinical population. Copyright (c) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

  13. Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.

    PubMed

    Gugger, James J; Wagner, Mary L

    2007-11-01

    To describe the clinical features of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD), evaluate treatment options, and discuss management of patients with comorbid diseases. A MEDLINE search (1977-April 2007) using the terms REM sleep behavior disorder, narcolepsy, parkinsonian disorders, levodopa, dopamine agonists, clonazepam, benzodiazepines, and melatonin was used to retrieve relevant articles. The reference sections of all articles and texts were scanned for additional literature. All articles published in English were evaluated. There were no specific criteria for inclusion of articles in this review. RBD is characterized by enactment of dream content resulting from the loss of normal skeletal muscle atonia during REM sleep. RBD occurs mainly in geriatric patients and in patients with neurodegenerative diseases, especially parkinsonian diseases. The presence of idiopathic RBD may be a sign of an underlying parkinsonian syndrome. Development of RBD may be one of the first manifestations of Parkinson's disease or other parkinsonian syndromes. An acute form of RBD can be drug-induced or occur on drug withdrawal. The potential for injury to the patient and his or her bed partner is as high as 96%. Controlled trials are unavailable for most agents used in the treatment of RBD, although clonazepam is an effective first-line agent and can provide rapid and complete symptom remission based on evidence from 3 large case series. Patients who cannot tolerate clonazepam or who have a suboptimal response may benefit from melatonin alone or as an adjunct. Both drugs are generally well tolerated when taken at bedtime. Management of patients with RBD becomes complicated due to the high incidence of neurologic comorbidity. Clonazepam is the treatment of choice for patients with RBD. The drug is efficacious and has a low incidence of adverse effects. Melatonin is a viable second-line or adjunctive treatment.

  14. Objective measurement of head movement differences in children with and without autism spectrum disorder.

    PubMed

    Martin, Katherine B; Hammal, Zakia; Ren, Gang; Cohn, Jeffrey F; Cassell, Justine; Ogihara, Mitsunori; Britton, Jennifer C; Gutierrez, Anibal; Messinger, Daniel S

    2018-01-01

    Deficits in motor movement in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have typically been characterized qualitatively by human observers. Although clinicians have noted the importance of atypical head positioning (e.g. social peering and repetitive head banging) when diagnosing children with ASD, a quantitative understanding of head movement in ASD is lacking. Here, we conduct a quantitative comparison of head movement dynamics in children with and without ASD using automated, person-independent computer-vision based head tracking (Zface). Because children with ASD often exhibit preferential attention to nonsocial versus social stimuli, we investigated whether children with and without ASD differed in their head movement dynamics depending on stimulus sociality. The current study examined differences in head movement dynamics in children with ( n  = 21) and without ASD ( n  = 21). Children were video-recorded while watching a 16-min video of social and nonsocial stimuli. Three dimensions of rigid head movement-pitch (head nods), yaw (head turns), and roll (lateral head inclinations)-were tracked using Zface. The root mean square of pitch, yaw, and roll was calculated to index the magnitude of head angular displacement (quantity of head movement) and angular velocity (speed). Compared with children without ASD, children with ASD exhibited greater yaw displacement, indicating greater head turning, and greater velocity of yaw and roll, indicating faster head turning and inclination. Follow-up analyses indicated that differences in head movement dynamics were specific to the social rather than the nonsocial stimulus condition. Head movement dynamics (displacement and velocity) were greater in children with ASD than in children without ASD, providing a quantitative foundation for previous clinical reports. Head movement differences were evident in lateral (yaw and roll) but not vertical (pitch) movement and were specific to a social rather than nonsocial

  15. Delayed-onset progressive movement disorders after static brain lesions.

    PubMed

    Scott, B L; Jankovic, J

    1996-01-01

    We studied 53 patients (64% females) with static brain lesions who developed progressive movement disorders. Of these, 50 (94%) had dystonia, 17 (32%) tremor, eight (15%) parkinsonism, seven (13%) myoclonus, and three (6%) chorea. The precipitating insults included perinatal hypoxia/ischemia in 22 (42%), stroke in 12 (23%), head injury in eight (15%), encephalitis in eight (15%), and carbon monoxide poisoning, kernicterus, and radiation necrosis in one patient (2%) each. Among the 30 patients with initial insult occurring at age 2 years or younger (Infant group), distribution of dystonia at follow-up was focal in three (10%), segmental in eight (27%), unilateral in 10 (33%), and generalized in nine (30%). The mean latency between the original injury and onset of movement disorder was 25.5 +/- 16.7 years. Among the nine patients who developed dystonia after an insult occurring between ages 6 and 17 (Childhood group), the distribution of dystonia at follow-up was segmental in two (33%) and unilateral in seven (78%); the mean latency of dystonia onset was 4.9 +/- 7.8 years. Of the 14 patients in the Adult group (injury at age 25 or older), 11 developed dystonia, two developed parkinsonism, and one had carbon monoxide encephalopathy and parkinsonism. The distribution of dystonia in the 11 patients at follow-up was segmental in three (27%) and unilateral in eight (73%). The mean latency of movement disorder onset in the 14 patients of the Adult group was 2.5 +/- 4.9 years. No individuals in the Childhood or Adult groups became left-hand dominant; by comparison, nine of the 30 individuals in the Infant group became left-handed. In conclusion, brain injury at a young age is associated with a longer latency to onset of subsequent movement disorder, a greater tendency to development of generalized dystonia, and a greater probability of altered handedness. These tendencies may result from differences in age-related neuroplasticity.

  16. Consistent abnormalities in metabolic network activity in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder.

    PubMed

    Wu, Ping; Yu, Huan; Peng, Shichun; Dauvilliers, Yves; Wang, Jian; Ge, Jingjie; Zhang, Huiwei; Eidelberg, David; Ma, Yilong; Zuo, Chuantao

    2014-12-01

    Rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder has been evaluated using Parkinson's disease-related metabolic network. It is unknown whether this disorder is itself associated with a unique metabolic network. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography was performed in 21 patients (age 65.0±5.6 years) with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder and 21 age/gender-matched healthy control subjects (age 62.5±7.5 years) to identify a disease-related pattern and examine its evolution in 21 hemi-parkinsonian patients (age 62.6±5.0 years) and 16 moderate parkinsonian patients (age 56.9±12.2 years). We identified a rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder-related metabolic network characterized by increased activity in pons, thalamus, medial frontal and sensorimotor areas, hippocampus, supramarginal and inferior temporal gyri, and posterior cerebellum, with decreased activity in occipital and superior temporal regions. Compared to the healthy control subjects, network expressions were elevated (P<0.0001) in the patients with this disorder and in the parkinsonian cohorts but decreased with disease progression. Parkinson's disease-related network activity was also elevated (P<0.0001) in the patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder but lower than in the hemi-parkinsonian cohort. Abnormal metabolic networks may provide markers of idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder to identify those at higher risk to develop neurodegenerative parkinsonism. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. The expanding spectrum of paroxysmal movement disorders: update from clinical features to therapeutics.

    PubMed

    McGovern, Eavan M; Roze, Emmanuel; Counihan, Timothy J

    2018-05-15

    This review will discuss the expanding clinical spectrum of paroxysmal movement disorders and therapeutic options in light of emerging genotypic heterogeneity in these conditions. Paroxysmal movement disorders comprise a heterogeneous group of rare neurological conditions characterized by intermittent episodes of abnormal movement associated with various triggers. As the clinical and genotypic spectrum of these disorders evolves, so also has the range of therapeutic options. Triheptanoin has recently been shown to be a very promising alternative to the ketogenic diet in paroxysmal exercise-induced dyskinesia. Four-aminopyridine is now considered first-line symptomatic therapy for episodic ataxia type-2, with pre-clinical findings indicating cerebellar neuroprotection. In light of the newly emerging therapies, careful clinical phenotyping is needed to ensure diagnostic precision and timely initiation of appropriate therapies.

  18. Do we always prioritize balance when walking? Towards an integrated model of task prioritization.

    PubMed

    Yogev-Seligmann, Galit; Hausdorff, Jeffrey M; Giladi, Nir

    2012-05-01

    Previous studies suggest that strategies such as "posture first" are implicitly employed to regulate safety when healthy adults walk while simultaneously performing another task, whereas "posture second" may be inappropriately applied in the presence of neurological disease. However, recent understandings raise questions about the traditional resource allocation concept during walking while dual tasking. We propose a task prioritization model of walking while dual tasking that integrates motor and cognitive capabilities, focusing on postural reserve, hazard estimation, and other individual intrinsic factors. The proposed prioritization model provides a theoretical foundation for future studies and a framework for the development of interventions designed to reduce the profound negative impacts of dual tasking on gait and fall risk in patients with neurological diseases. © 2012 Movement Disorder Society. Copyright © 2012 Movement Disorder Society.

  19. Fundamental Movement Skills in Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pan, Chien-Yu; Tsai, Chia-Liang; Chu, Chia-Hua

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the movement skills of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and those without disabilities. Ninety-one children (ASD, n = 28; ADHD, n = 29; control, n = 34), ages 6-10 years, were of average IQ participated. After controlling for age, both ASD and…

  20. Adult head-banging and stereotypic movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Mendez, M F; Mirea, A

    1998-09-01

    Stereotypic movement disorders (SMD) such as head-banging, which are common among children with mental retardation or pervasive developmental disorders, may also occur in intellectually normal adults. We report a 27-year history of daily head-banging with self-injury in a 49-year-old man with normal cognition. The patient had no personal or family history of Tourette's syndrome, tic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or mental retardation. The frequency of his stereotypical head-banging increased with anxiety, loud noises with startle, and boredom. He reported a sense of pleasure from his head-banging, and the frequency of this behavior decreased when he was treated with the opioid antagonist naltrexone. Although not diagnostic, the self-stimulatory or pleasurable component of head-banging, body-rocking, thumb-sucking, and other SMD may help distinguish them from tics, Tourette's syndrome, OCD, and deliberate self-harming behavior. This report reviews the disorders associated with SMD and discusses the potential mechanisms for these behaviors. The treatment of SMD includes drugs that work through opioid, serotonergic, or dopaminergic systems.

  1. A Case of KCNQ2-Associated Movement Disorder Triggered by Fever.

    PubMed

    Dhamija, Radhika; Goodkin, Howard P; Bailey, Russell; Chambers, Chelsea; Brenton, J Nicholas

    2017-12-01

    The differential diagnosis of fever-induced movement disorders in childhood is broad. Whole exome sequencing has yielded new insights into those cases with a suspected genetic basis. We report the case of an 8-year-old boy with a history of neonatal seizures who presented with near-continuous hyperkinetic movements of his limbs during a febrile illness. Initial diagnostic testing did not explain his abnormalities; however, given the suspicion for a channelopathy, whole exome sequencing was performed and it demonstrated a de novo pathogenic heterozygous variant in KCNQ2. There is an expanding phenotypic spectrum of heterozygous alterations in KCNQ2; however, this report provides the first description of a pathogenic KCNQ2 variant fever-induced hyperkinetic movement disorder in childhood. We also review the literature of cases previously published with the same pathogenic variant.

  2. Proteomic identification of aldolase A as an autoantibody target in patients with atypical movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Privitera, Daniela; Corti, Valeria; Alessio, Massimo; Volontè, Maria Antonietta; Volontè, Antonietta; Lampasona, Vito; Comi, Giancarlo; Martino, Gianvito; Franciotta, Diego; Furlan, Roberto; Fazio, Raffaella

    2013-03-01

    We tried to identify the target/s of autoantibodies to basal ganglia neurons found in a patient with hyperkinetic movement disorders (HMD) characterized by rapid, rhythmic involuntary movements or spasms in both face and neck. Patient and control sera were used in Western blot to probe mouse brain homogenates. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) SDS-PAGE protein spots recognized by the patient's antibodies were excised and sequenced by mass spectrometry analysis, and the glycolytic enzyme aldolase A was identified as the antigen recognized by the patient's autoantibodies. To assess relevance and specificity of these antibodies to the identified targets as biomarkers of autoimmunity in movement disorders, autoantibody responses to the identified target were then measured by ELISA in various diseases of the central nervous system. Anti-aldolase A autoantibodies were associated mainly with HMD (7/17, 41%) and Parkinson's disease (4/30, 13%) patients, and undetectable in subjects with other inflammatory and non-inflammatory central nervous system diseases. We, thus, identified aldolase A as an autoantigen in a sub-group of patients with HMD, a clinically ill-defined syndrome. Anti-aldolase A antibodies may represent a useful biomarker of autoimmunity in HMD patients.

  3. A review on eye movement studies in childhood and adolescent psychiatry.

    PubMed

    Rommelse, Nanda N J; Van der Stigchel, Stefan; Sergeant, Joseph A

    2008-12-01

    The neural substrates of eye movement measures are largely known. Therefore, measurement of eye movements in psychiatric disorders may provide insight into the underlying neuropathology of these disorders. Visually guided saccades, antisaccades, memory guided saccades, and smooth pursuit eye movements will be reviewed in various childhood psychiatric disorders. The four aims of this review are (1) to give a thorough overview of eye movement studies in a wide array of psychiatric disorders occurring during childhood and adolescence (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional deviant disorder and conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorders, reading disorder, childhood-onset schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, and anxiety and depression), (2) to discuss the specificity and overlap of eye movement findings across disorders and paradigms, (3) to discuss the developmental aspects of eye movement abnormalities in childhood and adolescence psychiatric disorders, and (4) to present suggestions for future research. In order to make this review of interest to a broad audience, attention will be given to the clinical manifestation of the disorders and the theoretical background of the eye movement paradigms.

  4. Increased task-uncorrelated muscle activity in childhood dystonia.

    PubMed

    Lunardini, Francesca; Maggioni, Serena; Casellato, Claudia; Bertucco, Matteo; Pedrocchi, Alessandra L G; Sanger, Terence D

    2015-06-12

    Even if movement abnormalities in dystonia are obvious on observation-based examinations, objective measures to characterize dystonia and to gain insights into its pathophysiology are still strongly needed. We hypothesize that motor abnormalities in childhood dystonia are partially due to the inability to suppress involuntary variable muscle activity irrelevant to the achievement of the desired motor task, resulting in the superposition of unwanted motion components on the desired movement. However, it is difficult to separate and quantify appropriate and inappropriate motor signals combined in the same muscle, especially during movement. We devise an innovative and practical method to objectively measure movement abnormalities during the performance of a continuous figure-eight writing task in 7 children with dystonia and 9 age-matched healthy controls. During the execution of a continuous writing task, muscle contractions should occur at frequencies that match the frequencies of the writing outcome. We compare the power spectra of kinematic trajectories and electromyographic signals of 8 upper limb muscles to separate muscle activity with the same frequency content of the figure-eight movement (task-correlated) from activity occurring at frequencies extraneous to the task (task-uncorrelated). Children with dystonia present a greater magnitude of task-uncorrelated muscle components. The motor performance achieved by children with dystonia is characterized by an overall lower quality, with high spatial and temporal variability and an altered trade-off between speed and accuracy. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, in childhood dystonia, the ability to appropriately suppress variable and uncorrelated elements of movement is impaired. Here we present a proof-of-concept of a promising tool to characterize the phenomenology of movement disorders and to inform the design of neurorehabilitation therapies.

  5. Using E-Z Reader to Simulate Eye Movements in Nonreading Tasks: A Unified Framework for Understanding the Eye-Mind Link

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reichle, Erik D.; Pollatsek, Alexander; Rayner, Keith

    2012-01-01

    Nonreading tasks that share some (but not all) of the task demands of reading have often been used to make inferences about how cognition influences when the eyes move during reading. In this article, we use variants of the E-Z Reader model of eye-movement control in reading to simulate eye-movement behavior in several of these tasks, including…

  6. Symptoms elicited in persons with vestibular dysfunction while performing gaze movements in optic flow environments

    PubMed Central

    Whitney, Susan L.; Sparto, Patrick J.; Cook, James R.; Redfern, Mark S.; Furman, Joseph M.

    2016-01-01

    Introduction People with vestibular disorders often experience space and motion discomfort when exposed to moving or highly textured visual scenes. The purpose of this study was to measure the type and severity of symptoms in people with vestibular dysfunction during coordinated head and eye movements in optic flow environments. Methods Seven subjects with vestibular disorders and 25 controls viewed four different full-field optic flow environments on six different visits. The optic flow environments consisted of textures with various contrasts and spatial frequencies. Subjects performed 8 gaze movement tasks, including eye saccades, gaze saccades, and gaze stabilization tasks. Subjects reported symptoms using Subjective Units of Discomfort (SUD) and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Self-reported dizziness handicap and space and motion discomfort were also measured. Results/ Conclusion Subjects with vestibular disorders had greater discomfort and experienced greater oculomotor and disorientation symptoms. The magnitude of the symptoms increased during each visit, but did not depend on the optic flow condition. Subjects who reported greater dizziness handicap and space motion discomfort had greater severity of symptoms during the experiment. Symptoms of fatigue, difficulty focusing, and dizziness during the experiment were evident. Compared with controls, subjects with vestibular disorders had less head movement during the gaze saccade tasks. Overall, performance of gaze pursuit and gaze stabilization tasks in moving visual environments elicited greater symptoms in subjects with vestibular disorders compared with healthy subjects. PMID:23549055

  7. Impaired Awareness of Movement Disorders in Parkinson's Disease

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amanzio, Martina; Monteverdi, Silvia; Giordano, Alessandra; Soliveri, Paola; Filippi, Paola; Geminiani, Giuliano

    2010-01-01

    Background: This study analyzed the presence of awareness of movement disorders (dyskinesias and hypokinesias) in 25 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and motor fluctuations (dyskinesias, wearing off, on-off fluctuations). Of the few studies that have dealt with this topic, none have analyzed the differences in the awareness of motor deficits…

  8. Procedural learning in Parkinson's disease, specific language impairment, dyslexia, schizophrenia, developmental coordination disorder, and autism spectrum disorders: A second-order meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Clark, Gillian M; Lum, Jarrad A G

    2017-10-01

    The serial reaction time task (SRTT) has been used to study procedural learning in clinical populations. In this report, second-order meta-analysis was used to investigate whether disorder type moderates performance on the SRTT. Using this approach to quantitatively summarise past research, it was tested whether autism spectrum disorder, developmental coordination disorder, dyslexia, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and specific language impairment differentially affect procedural learning on the SRTT. The main analysis revealed disorder type moderated SRTT performance (p=0.010). This report demonstrates comparable levels of procedural learning impairment in developmental coordination disorder, dyslexia, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and specific language impairment. However, in autism, procedural learning is spared. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. [Depression associated with movement disorders].

    PubMed

    Mao, Cheng-jie; Chen, Ju-ping; Hu, Wei-dong; Liu, Chun-feng

    2013-01-01

    To explore the incidence of depression in movement disorders and associated factors. A total of 121 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients from August 2010 to June 2011 and 62 ET patients from July 2009 to June 2010 were recruited. All of them were outpatients of our hospital. PD patients received the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) -motor examination and a modified Hoehn and Yahr scale to stage the severity of their disorders while 62 essential tremor (ET) patients were evaluated with tremor rating scale for tremor-motor examination (items 1 - 15 of rating scale). All participants completed Hamilton depression rating scale (24 items) to measure the presence and degree of symptoms of depression. It was found that 56.2% of PD patients and 53.2% of ET patients were depressed (HAMD score of 8 or higher). Among them, the rates of mild depression were 38.9% and 35.5%, moderate depression 15.7% and 17.7% and severe depression 1.7% and 0% in PD and ET patients respectively. No significant differences existed between each group. The factor scores of cognitive impairment were 1.81 ± 1.86 and 1.04 ± 1.07 in PD and ET patients while those of sense of despair were 2.95 ± 1.97 and 4.09 ± 2.08 in each group. The differences had statistical significance in two factor scores of two groups (P < 0.05). No differences in anxiety/somatization, lose weight, day-and-night changes, block and sleep disorders between two groups. For PD patients, the motor score of UPDRS-III was positively correlated with total HAMD score (r = 0.511, P < 0.01). Similarly, for ET patients, tremor rating scale for tremor-motor subscale score and HAMD score were positively correlated (r = 0.828, P < 0.01). As two common movement disorders, PD and ET have a high incidence of depression. The severity of depression is similar in two groups. There is no significant intra-group difference in severity and frequency of depression. The most common symptoms are anxiety somatization, anhedonia, working

  10. Gender differences in plantar loading during three soccer-specific tasks.

    PubMed

    Sims, E L; Hardaker, W M; Queen, R M

    2008-04-01

    Examine the effect of gender on plantar loading during three football-specific tasks. Thirty-four athletes (17 men, 17 women) ran an agility course five times while wearing the Nike Vitoria hard ground cleat. Plantar loading data were recorded during a side cut, a cross-over cut and a forward acceleration task using Pedar-X insoles. Controlled laboratory study. No history of lower extremity injury in the past 6 months, no previous foot or ankle surgery, not currently wearing foot orthotics and play a cleated sport at least two times per week. Contact area, maximum force and the force-time integral (FTI) in the medial and lateral midfoot, medial, middle and lateral forefoot as well as the hallux. A univariate ANCOVA (alpha = 0.05) was performed on each dependent variable (covariate was course speed). Significant gender differences existed in the force and force-time integral beneath the lateral midfoot and forefoot during the cross-over cut task as well as in the middle forefoot during the side cut task with the men demonstrating an increased force. No significant differences existed in the loading on the medial side of the foot during any tasks. The results of this study indicate that the increase in plantar loading on the lateral portion of the midfoot and forefoot in men could be one possible explanation for the increased incidence of fifth metatarsal stress fractures in men. Gender differences in loading patterns need to be considered when comparing different movements as well as different footwear conditions.

  11. Dysautonomia rating scales in Parkinson's disease: sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation--critique and recommendations by movement disorders task force on rating scales for Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Evatt, Marian L; Chaudhuri, K Ray; Chou, Kelvin L; Cubo, Ester; Hinson, Vanessa; Kompoliti, Katie; Yang, Chengwu; Poewe, Werner; Rascol, Olivier; Sampaio, Cristina; Stebbins, Glenn T; Goetz, Christopher G

    2009-04-15

    Upper and lower gastrointestinal dysautonomia symptoms (GIDS)--sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and often socially as well as physically disabling for patients. Available invasive quantitative measures for assessing these symptoms and their response to therapy are time-consuming, require specialized equipment, can cause patient discomfort and present patients with risk. The Movement Disorders Society commissioned a task force to assess available clinical rating scales, critique their clinimetric properties, and make recommendations regarding their clinical utility. Six clinical researchers and a biostatistician systematically searched the literature for scales of sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation, evaluated the scales' previous use, performance parameters, and quality of validation data (if available). A scale was designated "Recommended" if the scale was used in clinical studies beyond the group that developed it, has been specifically used in PD reports, and clinimetric studies have established that it is a valid, reliable, and sensitive. "Suggested" scales met at least part of the above criteria, but fell short of meeting all. Based on the systematic review, scales for individual symptoms of sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation were identified along with three global scales that include these symptoms in the context of assessing dysautonomia or nonmotor symptoms. Three sialorrhea scales met criteria for Suggested: Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale (DSFS), Drooling Rating Scale, and Sialorrhea Clinical Scale for PD (SCS-PD). Two dysphagia scales, the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ) and Dysphagia-Specific Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL), met criteria for Suggested. Although Rome III constipation module is widely accepted in the gastroenterology community, and the earlier version from the Rome II criteria has been used in a single study of PD patients, neither met criteria for Suggested or Recommended

  12. Attention during functional tasks is associated with motor performance in children with developmental coordination disorder

    PubMed Central

    Fong, Shirley S.M.; Chung, Joanne W.Y.; Cheng, Yoyo T.Y.; Yam, Timothy T.T.; Chiu, Hsiu-Ching; Fong, Daniel Y.T.; Cheung, C.Y.; Yuen, Lily; Yu, Esther Y.T.; Hung, Yeung Sam; Macfarlane, Duncan J.; Ng, Shamay S.M.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract This cross-sectional and exploratory study aimed to compare motor performance and electroencephalographic (EEG) attention levels in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and those with typical development, and determine the relationship between motor performance and the real-time EEG attention level in children with DCD. Eighty-six children with DCD [DCD: n = 57; DCD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): n = 29] and 99 children with typical development were recruited. Their motor performance was assessed with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) and attention during the tasks of the MABC was evaluated by EEG. All children with DCD had higher MABC impairment scores and lower EEG attention scores than their peers (P < 0.05). After accounting for age, sex, body mass index, and physical activity level, the attention index remained significantly associated with the MABC total impairment score and explained 14.1% of the variance in children who had DCD but not ADHD (P = 0.009) and 17.5% of the variance in children with both DCD and ADHD (P = 0.007). Children with DCD had poorer motor performance and were less attentive to movements than their peers. Their poor motor performance may be explained by inattention. PMID:27631272

  13. Dystonia and Paroxysmal Dyskinesias: Under-Recognized Movement Disorders in Domestic Animals? A Comparison with Human Dystonia/Paroxysmal Dyskinesias

    PubMed Central

    Richter, Angelika; Hamann, Melanie; Wissel, Jörg; Volk, Holger A.

    2015-01-01

    Dystonia is defined as a neurological syndrome characterized by involuntary sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing twisting, often repetitive movements, and postures. Paroxysmal dyskinesias are episodic movement disorders encompassing dystonia, chorea, athetosis, and ballism in conscious individuals. Several decades of research have enhanced the understanding of the etiology of human dystonia and dyskinesias that are associated with dystonia, but the pathophysiology remains largely unknown. The spontaneous occurrence of hereditary dystonia and paroxysmal dyskinesia is well documented in rodents used as animal models in basic dystonia research. Several hyperkinetic movement disorders, described in dogs, horses and cattle, show similarities to these human movement disorders. Although dystonia is regarded as the third most common movement disorder in humans, it is often misdiagnosed because of the heterogeneity of etiology and clinical presentation. Since these conditions are poorly known in veterinary practice, their prevalence may be underestimated in veterinary medicine. In order to attract attention to these movement disorders, i.e., dystonia and paroxysmal dyskinesias associated with dystonia, and to enhance interest in translational research, this review gives a brief overview of the current literature regarding dystonia/paroxysmal dyskinesia in humans and summarizes similar hereditary movement disorders reported in domestic animals. PMID:26664992

  14. Dystonia and Paroxysmal Dyskinesias: Under-Recognized Movement Disorders in Domestic Animals? A Comparison with Human Dystonia/Paroxysmal Dyskinesias.

    PubMed

    Richter, Angelika; Hamann, Melanie; Wissel, Jörg; Volk, Holger A

    2015-01-01

    Dystonia is defined as a neurological syndrome characterized by involuntary sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing twisting, often repetitive movements, and postures. Paroxysmal dyskinesias are episodic movement disorders encompassing dystonia, chorea, athetosis, and ballism in conscious individuals. Several decades of research have enhanced the understanding of the etiology of human dystonia and dyskinesias that are associated with dystonia, but the pathophysiology remains largely unknown. The spontaneous occurrence of hereditary dystonia and paroxysmal dyskinesia is well documented in rodents used as animal models in basic dystonia research. Several hyperkinetic movement disorders, described in dogs, horses and cattle, show similarities to these human movement disorders. Although dystonia is regarded as the third most common movement disorder in humans, it is often misdiagnosed because of the heterogeneity of etiology and clinical presentation. Since these conditions are poorly known in veterinary practice, their prevalence may be underestimated in veterinary medicine. In order to attract attention to these movement disorders, i.e., dystonia and paroxysmal dyskinesias associated with dystonia, and to enhance interest in translational research, this review gives a brief overview of the current literature regarding dystonia/paroxysmal dyskinesia in humans and summarizes similar hereditary movement disorders reported in domestic animals.

  15. Movement behaviour of patients with eating disorders and inflammatory bowel disease: a controlled study.

    PubMed

    Lausberg, H; von Wietersheim, J; Feiereis, H

    1996-01-01

    This study assessed the movement behaviour of patients with eating disorders and inflammatory bowel disease. Ninety female patients with anorexia nervosa (n = 30), bulimia nervosa (n = 30), inflammatory bowel disease (n = 30) and a healthy control group (n = 30) were videotaped during a 10-min standardised movement sequence. A movement analysis instrument was developed for the evaluation. The patient groups had a significantly smaller area of movement, less weight shift, more isolated use of their body parts, less integration of the lower body, more peripheral initiation of movement, less strength. No significant differences could be found among the patient groups with eating disorders and inflammatory bowel disease. The findings are discussed in relation to body scheme disturbances and inhibition of nonverbal expression.

  16. Inhibition in movement plan competition: reach trajectories curve away from remembered and task-irrelevant present but not from task-irrelevant past visual stimuli.

    PubMed

    Moehler, Tobias; Fiehler, Katja

    2017-11-01

    The current study investigated the role of automatic encoding and maintenance of remembered, past, and present visual distractors for reach movement planning. The previous research on eye movements showed that saccades curve away from locations actively kept in working memory and also from task-irrelevant perceptually present visual distractors, but not from task-irrelevant past distractors. Curvature away has been associated with an inhibitory mechanism resolving the competition between multiple active movement plans. Here, we examined whether reach movements underlie a similar inhibitory mechanism and thus show systematic modulation of reach trajectories when the location of a previously presented distractor has to be (a) maintained in working memory or (b) ignored, or (c) when the distractor is perceptually present. Participants performed vertical reach movements on a computer monitor from a home to a target location. Distractors appeared laterally and near or far from the target (equidistant from central fixation). We found that reaches curved away from the distractors located close to the target when the distractor location had to be memorized and when it was perceptually present, but not when the past distractor had to be ignored. Our findings suggest that automatically encoding present distractors and actively maintaining the location of past distractors in working memory evoke a similar response competition resolved by inhibition, as has been previously shown for saccadic eye movements.

  17. Does order and timing in performance of imagined and actual movements affect the motor imagery process? The duration of walking and writing task.

    PubMed

    Papaxanthis, Charalambos; Pozzo, Thierry; Skoura, Xanthi; Schieppati, Marco

    2002-08-21

    The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects on the duration of imagined movements of changes in timing and order of performance of actual and imagined movement. Two groups of subjects had to actually execute and imagine a walking and a writing task. The first group first executed 10 trials of the actual movements (block A) and then imagined the same movements at different intervals: immediately after actual movements (block I-1) and after 25 min (I-2), 50 min (I-3) and 75 min (I-4) interval. The second group first imagined and then actually executed the tasks. The duration of actual and imagined movements, recorded by means of an electronic stopwatch operated by the subjects, was analysed. The duration of imagined movements was very similar to those of actual movements, for both tasks, regardless of either the interval elapsed from the actual movements (first group) or the order of performance (second group). However, the variability of imagined movement duration was significantly increased compared to variability of the actual movements, for both motor tasks and groups. The findings give evidence of similar cognitive processes underlying both imagination and actual performance of movement. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.

  18. Quantitative assessment of motor speech abnormalities in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder.

    PubMed

    Rusz, Jan; Hlavnička, Jan; Tykalová, Tereza; Bušková, Jitka; Ulmanová, Olga; Růžička, Evžen; Šonka, Karel

    2016-03-01

    Patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) are at substantial risk for developing Parkinson's disease (PD) or related neurodegenerative disorders. Speech is an important indicator of motor function and movement coordination, and therefore may be an extremely sensitive early marker of changes due to prodromal neurodegeneration. Speech data were acquired from 16 RBD subjects and 16 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Objective acoustic assessment of 15 speech dimensions representing various phonatory, articulatory, and prosodic deviations was performed. Statistical models were applied to characterise speech disorders in RBD and to estimate sensitivity and specificity in differentiating between RBD and control subjects. Some form of speech impairment was revealed in 88% of RBD subjects. Articulatory deficits were the most prominent findings in RBD. In comparison to controls, the RBD group showed significant alterations in irregular alternating motion rates (p = 0.009) and articulatory decay (p = 0.01). The combination of four distinctive speech dimensions, including aperiodicity, irregular alternating motion rates, articulatory decay, and dysfluency, led to 96% sensitivity and 79% specificity in discriminating between RBD and control subjects. Speech impairment was significantly more pronounced in RBD subjects with the motor score of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale greater than 4 points when compared to other RBD individuals. Simple quantitative speech motor measures may be suitable for the reliable detection of prodromal neurodegeneration in subjects with RBD, and therefore may provide important outcomes for future therapy trials. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) Task Force Report on Antidepressant Use in Bipolar Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Pacchiarotti, Isabella; Bond, David J.; Baldessarini, Ross J.; Nolen, Willem A.; Grunze, Heinz; Licht, Rasmus W.; Post, Robert M.; Berk, Michael; Goodwin, Guy M.; Sachs, Gary S.; Tondo, Leonardo; Findling, Robert L.; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Tohen, Mauricio; Undurraga, Juan; González-Pinto, Ana; Goldberg, Joseph F.; Yildiz, Ayşegül; Altshuler, Lori L.; Calabrese, Joseph R.; Mitchell, Philip B.; Thase, Michael E.; Koukopoulos, Athanasios; Colom, Francesc; Frye, Mark A.; Malhi, Gin S.; Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N.; Vázquez, Gustavo; Perlis, Roy H.; Ketter, Terence A.; Cassidy, Frederick; Akiskal, Hagop; Azorin, Jean-Michel; Valentí, Marc; Mazzei, Diego Hidalgo; Lafer, Beny; Kato, Tadafumi; Mazzarini, Lorenzo; Martínez-Aran, Anabel; Parker, Gordon; Souery, Daniel; Özerdem, Ayşegül; McElroy, Susan L.; Girardi, Paolo; Bauer, Michael; Yatham, Lakshmi N.; Zarate, Carlos A.; Nierenberg, Andrew A.; Birmaher, Boris; Kanba, Shigenobu; El-Mallakh, Rif S.; Serretti, Alessandro; Rihmer, Zoltan; Young, Allan H.; Kotzalidis, Georgios D.; MacQueen, Glenda M.; Bowden, Charles L.; Ghaemi, S. Nassir; Lopez-Jaramillo, Carlos; Rybakowski, Janusz; Ha, Kyooseob; Perugi, Giulio; Kasper, Siegfried; Amsterdam, Jay D.; Hirschfeld, Robert M.; Kapczinski, Flávio; Vieta, Eduard

    2014-01-01

    Objective The risk-benefit profile of antidepressant medications in bipolar disorder is controversial. When conclusive evidence is lacking, expert consensus can guide treatment decisions. The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) convened a task force to seek consensus recommendations on the use of antidepressants in bipolar disorders. Method An expert task force iteratively developed consensus through serial consensus-based revisions using the Delphi method. Initial survey items were based on systematic review of the literature. Subsequent surveys included new or reworded items and items that needed to be rerated. This process resulted in the final ISBD Task Force clinical recommendations on antidepressant use in bipolar disorder. Results There is striking incongruity between the wide use of and the weak evidence base for the efficacy and safety of antidepressant drugs in bipolar disorder. Few well-designed, long-term trials of prophylactic benefits have been conducted, and there is insufficient evidence for treatment benefits with antidepressants combined with mood stabilizers. A major concern is the risk for mood switch to hypomania, mania, and mixed states. Integrating the evidence and the experience of the task force members, a consensus was reached on 12 statements on the use of antidepressants in bipolar disorder. Conclusions Because of limited data, the task force could not make broad statements endorsing antidepressant use but acknowledged that individual bipolar patients may benefit from antidepressants. Regarding safety, serotonin reuptake inhibitors and bupropion may have lower rates of manic switch than tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants and norepinephrine-serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The frequency and severity of antidepressant-associated mood elevations appear to be greater in bipolar I than bipolar II disorder. Hence, in bipolar I patients antidepressants should be prescribed only as an adjunct to mood-stabilizing medications

  20. Functional (psychogenic) movement disorders: merging mind and brain.

    PubMed

    Edwards, Mark J; Bhatia, Kailash P

    2012-03-01

    Functional (psychogenic) movement disorders (FMD) are part of the wide spectrum of functional neurological disorders, which together account for over 16% of patients referred to neurology clinics. FMD have been described as a "crisis for neurology" and cause major challenges in terms of diagnosis and treatment. As with other functional disorders, a key issue is the absence of pathophysiological understanding. There has been an influential historical emphasis on causation by emotional trauma, which is not supported by epidemiological studies. The similarity between physical signs in functional disorders and those that occur in feigned illness has also raised important challenges for pathophysiological understanding and has challenged health professionals' attitudes toward patients with these disorders. However, physical signs and selected investigations can help clinicians to reach a positive diagnosis, and modern pathophysiological research is showing an appreciation of the importance of both physical and psychological factors in FMD. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Are the yips a task-specific dystonia or "golfer's cramp"?

    PubMed

    Adler, Charles H; Crews, Debra; Kahol, Kanav; Santello, Marco; Noble, Brie; Hentz, Joseph G; Caviness, John N

    2011-09-01

    This study compared golfers with and without the yips using joint movement and surface electromyographic detectors. Fifty golfers (25 with and 25 without complaints of the yips) were studied while putting. All putts were videotaped. Surface electromyography assessed arm cocontraction. A CyberGlove II (Immersion Technologies, Palo Alto, CA) assessed right-arm angular movements. Primary analysis was done by subjective complaint of the yips, whereas secondary analysis was done by video evidence of an involuntary movement. When grouped by subjective complaints, there were no differences in any movement parameter. When grouped by video evidence of an involuntary movement, yips cases had more (P < 0.001) angular movement in wrist pronation/supination and a trend (P = 0.08) for wrist flexor/extensor cocontraction (yips: 7 of 17, 41.2%; no yips: 6 of 33, 18.2%). Golfers with video evidence of an involuntary movement while putting have excessive rotation of the right wrist in a pronation/supination motion and, as previously reported, a trend for wrist flexor/extensor cocontraction. Copyright © 2011 Movement Disorder Society.

  2. Evaluating Cognitive Action Control Using Eye-Movement Analysis: An Oculomotor Adaptation of the Simon Task.

    PubMed

    Duprez, Joan; Houvenaghel, Jean-François; Naudet, Florian; Dondaine, Thibaut; Auffret, Manon; Robert, Gabriel; Drapier, Dominique; Argaud, Soizic; Vérin, Marc; Sauleau, Paul

    2016-01-01

    Cognitive action control has been extensively studied using conflict tasks such as the Simon task. In most recent studies, this process has been investigated in the light of the dual route hypothesis and more specifically of the activation-suppression model using distributional analyses. Some authors have suggested that cognitive action control assessment is not specific to response modes. In this study we adapted the Simon task, using oculomotor responses instead of manual responses, in order to evaluate whether the resolution of conflict induced by a two-dimensional stimulus yielded similar results to what is usually reported in tasks with manual responses. Results obtained from 43 young healthy participants revealed the typical congruence effect, with longer reaction times (RT) and lesser accuracy in the incongruent condition. Conditional accuracy functions (CAF) also revealed a higher proportion of fast errors in the incongruent condition and delta plots confirmed that conflict resolution was easier, as the time taken to respond increased. These results are very similar to what has been reported in the literature. Furthermore, our observations are in line with the assumptions of the activation-suppression model, in which automatic activation in conflict situations is captured in the fastest responses and selective inhibition of cognitive action control needs time to build up. Altogether, our results suggest that conflict resolution has core mechanisms whatever the response mode, manual or oculomotor. Using oculomotor responses in such tasks could be of interest when investigating cognitive action control in patients with severe motor disorders.

  3. The neuropsychiatry of hyperkinetic movement disorders: insights from neuroimaging into the neural circuit bases of dysfunction.

    PubMed

    Hayhow, Bradleigh D; Hassan, Islam; Looi, Jeffrey C L; Gaillard, Francesco; Velakoulis, Dennis; Walterfang, Mark

    2013-01-01

    Movement disorders, particularly those associated with basal ganglia disease, have a high rate of comorbid neuropsychiatric illness. We consider the pathophysiological basis of the comorbidity between movement disorders and neuropsychiatric illness by 1) reviewing the epidemiology of neuropsychiatric illness in a range of hyperkinetic movement disorders, and 2) correlating findings to evidence from studies that have utilized modern neuroimaging techniques to investigate these disorders. In addition to diseases classically associated with basal ganglia pathology, such as Huntington disease, Wilson disease, the neuroacanthocytoses, and diseases of brain iron accumulation, we include diseases associated with pathology of subcortical white matter tracts, brain stem nuclei, and the cerebellum, such as metachromatic leukodystrophy, dentatorubropallidoluysian atrophy, and the spinocerebellar ataxias. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are integral to a thorough phenomenological account of hyperkinetic movement disorders. Drawing on modern theories of cortico-subcortical circuits, we argue that these disorders can be conceptualized as disorders of complex subcortical networks with distinct functional architectures. Damage to any component of these complex information-processing networks can have variable and often profound consequences for the function of more remote neural structures, creating a diverse but nonetheless rational pattern of clinical symptomatology.

  4. Selected sleep disorders: restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder, sleep apnea syndrome, and narcolepsy.

    PubMed

    Erman, Milton K

    2006-12-01

    Sleep disorders, including restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder, sleep apnea syndrome, and narcolepsy, are prevalent medical conditions, likely to be seen by practicing psychiatrists. Awareness of these conditions and their presentations, pathophysiology, and treatment allows psychiatrists to treat these conditions where appropriate, to minimize complications and health consequences associated with delayed diagnosis, and to reduce the burden of disease that these conditions may place on patients already experiencing primary psychiatric disorders.

  5. Windmill-task as a New Quantitative and Objective Assessment for Mirror Movements in Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study.

    PubMed

    Zielinski, Ingar Marie; Steenbergen, Bert; Schmidt, Anna; Klingels, Katrijn; Simon Martinez, Cristina; de Water, Pascal; Hoare, Brian

    2018-03-23

    To introduce the Windmill-task, a new objective assessment tool to quantify the presence of mirror movements (MMs) in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP), which are typically assessed with the observation-based Woods and Teuber scale (W&T). Prospective, observational, cohort pilot study. Children's hospital. Prospective cohort of children (N=23) with UCP (age range, 6-15y, mean age, 10.5±2.7y). Not applicable. The concurrent validity of the Windmill-task is assessed, and the sensitivity and specificity for MM detection are compared between both assessments. To assess the concurrent validity, Windmill-task data are compared with W&T data using Spearman rank correlations (ρ) for 2 conditions: affected hand moving vs less affected hand moving. Sensitivity and specificity are compared by measuring the mean percentage of children being assessed inconsistently across both assessments. Outcomes of both assessments correlated significantly (affected hand moving: ρ=.520; P=.005; less affected hand moving: ρ=.488; P=.009). However, many children displayed MMs on the Windmill-task, but not on the W&T (sensitivity: affected hand moving: 27.5%; less affected hand moving: 40.6%). Only 2 children displayed MMs on the W&T, but not on the Windmill-task (specificity: affected hand moving: 2.9%; less affected hand moving: 1.4%). The Windmill-task seems to be a valid tool to assess MMs in children with UCP and has an additional advantage of sensitivity to detect MMs. Copyright © 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. A Cross-Cultural Study of Task Specificity in Creativity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storme, Martin; Lubart, Todd; Myszkowski, Nils; Cheung, Ping Chung; Tong, Toby; Lau, Sing

    2017-01-01

    This study provides new evidence concerning task specificity in creativity--examining through a cross-cultural perspective the extent to which performance in graphic versus verbal creativity tasks (domain specificity) and in divergent versus convergent creativity tasks (process specificity) are correlated. The relations between different…

  7. [One of the approaches to psychological-pedagogical help to children with severe movement disorders].

    PubMed

    Levchenko, I Iu; Simonova, T N

    2012-01-01

    The objective of the study was to work out an effective model of complex help to children with severe movement disorders. We examined 440 preschoolers with children cerebral palsy with severe movement disorders and 70 children with mild movement disorders. Functions of motor, emotional-personal and cognitive spheres and independence status with determination of 5 levels were studied in 47 patients. Three groups (from the group without concomitant (sensor, intellectual etc) disorders to the group with most severe disorders) were singled out. The authors characterize the model as an open integral system of methods, tools and ways providing the adaptation of children in response to external circumstances and changes in the state of patients. The creation of a correction-developing environment, consisting of 3 components: spatial-objective, technological (methodological) and social, is discussed. We present results of the development of children, evaluated by the following indices: general technique, sensory perceptive development, social adaptation, anxiety, cognitive activity, from 1997 to 2008. The 15 year follow-up demonstrated the stability of achieved positive results.

  8. Quality of life in patients with an idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder in Korea.

    PubMed

    Kim, Keun Tae; Motamedi, Gholam K; Cho, Yong Won

    2017-08-01

    There have been few quality of life studies in patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. We compared the quality of life in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder patients to healthy controls, patients with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus without complication and idiopathic restless legs syndrome. Sixty patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (24 female; mean age: 61.43 ± 8.99) were enrolled retrospectively. The diagnosis was established based on sleep history, overnight polysomnography, neurological examination and Mini-Mental State Examination to exclude secondary rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. All subjects completed questionnaires, including the Short Form 36-item Health Survey for quality of life. The total quality of life score in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (70.63 ± 20.83) was lower than in the healthy control group (83.38 ± 7.96) but higher than in the hypertension (60.55 ± 24.82), diabetes mellitus (62.42 ± 19.37) and restless legs syndrome (61.77 ± 19.25) groups. The total score of idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder patients had a negative correlation with the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (r = -0.498, P < 0.001), Insomnia Severity Index (r = -0.645, P < 0.001) and the Beck Depression Inventory-2 (r = -0.694, P < 0.001). Multiple regression showed a negative correlation between the Short Form 36-item Health Survey score and the Insomnia Severity Index (β = -1.100, P = 0.001) and Beck Depression Inventory-2 (β = -1.038, P < 0.001). idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder had a significant negative impact on quality of life, although this effect was less than that of other chronic disorders. This negative effect might be related to a depressive mood associated with the disease. © 2016 European Sleep Research Society.

  9. The CANMAT task force recommendations for the management of patients with mood disorders and comorbid anxiety disorders.

    PubMed

    Schaffer, Ayal; McIntosh, Diane; Goldstein, Benjamin I; Rector, Neil A; McIntyre, Roger S; Beaulieu, Serge; Swinson, Richard; Yatham, Lakshmi N

    2012-02-01

    Comorbid mood and anxiety disorders are commonly seen in clinical practice. The goal of this article is to review the available literature on the epidemiologic, etiologic, clinical, and management aspects of this comorbidity and formulate a set of evidence- and consensus-based recommendations. This article is part of a set of Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) Comorbidity Task Force papers. We conducted a PubMed search of all English-language articles published between January 1966 and November 2010. The search terms were bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, cross-referenced with anxiety disorders/symptoms, panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Levels of evidence for specific interventions were assigned based on a priori determined criteria, and recommendations were developed by integrating the level of evidence and clinical opinion of the authors. Comorbid anxiety symptoms and disorders have a significant impact on the clinical presentation and treatment approach for patients with mood disorders. A set of recommendations are provided for the management of bipolar disorder (BD) with comorbid anxiety and major depressive disorder (MDD) with comorbid anxiety with a focus on comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder, use of cognitive-behavioral therapy across mood and anxiety disorders, and youth with mood and anxiety disorders. Careful attention should be given to correctly identifying anxiety comorbidities in patients with BD or MDD. Consideration of evidence- or consensus-based treatment recommendations for the management of both mood and anxiety symptoms is warranted.

  10. Content specificity of attention bias to threat in anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis.

    PubMed

    Pergamin-Hight, Lee; Naim, Reut; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J; van IJzendoorn, Marinus H; Bar-Haim, Yair

    2015-02-01

    Despite the established evidence for threat-related attention bias in anxiety, the mechanisms underlying this bias remain unclear. One important unresolved question is whether disorder-congruent threats capture attention to a greater extent than do more general or disorder-incongruent threat stimuli. Evidence for attention bias specificity in anxiety would implicate involvement of previous learning and memory processes in threat-related attention bias, whereas lack of content specificity would point to perturbations in more generic attention processes. Enhanced clarity of mechanism could have clinical implications for the stimuli types used in Attention Bias Modification Treatments (ABMT). Content specificity of threat-related attention bias in anxiety and potential moderators of this effect were investigated. A systematic search identified 37 samples from 29 articles (N=866). Relevant data were extracted based on specific coding rules, and Cohen's d effect size was used to estimate bias specificity effects. The results indicate greater attention bias toward disorder-congruent relative to disorder-incongruent threat stimuli (d=0.28, p<0.0001). This effect was not moderated by age, type of anxiety disorder, visual attention tasks, or type of disorder-incongruent stimuli. No evidence of publication bias was observed. Implications for threat bias in anxiety and ABMT are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Strategies Used by Families to Simplify Tasks for Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders: Psychometric Analysis of the Task Management Strategy Index (TMSI)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gitlin, Laura N.; Winter, Laraine; Dennis, Marie P.; Corcoran, Mary; Schinfeld, Sandy; Hauck, Walter W.

    2002-01-01

    Purpose: Little is known about the specific behavioral strategies used by families to manage the physical dependency of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD). This study reports the psychometric properties of the Task Management Strategy Index (TMSI), a measure designed to identify actions taken by caregivers to simplify…

  12. Video-task assessment of learning and memory in Macaques (Macaca mulatta) - Effects of stimulus movement on performance

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Washburn, David A.; Hopkins, William D.; Rumbaugh, Duane M.

    1989-01-01

    Effects of stimulus movement on learning, transfer, matching, and short-term memory performance were assessed with 2 monkeys using a video-task paradigm in which the animals responded to computer-generated images by manipulating a joystick. Performance on tests of learning set, transfer index, matching to sample, and delayed matching to sample in the video-task paradigm was comparable to that obtained in previous investigations using the Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus. Additionally, learning, transfer, and matching were reliably and significantly better when the stimuli or discriminanda moved than when the stimuli were stationary. External manipulations such as stimulus movement may increase attention to the demands of a task, which in turn should increase the efficiency of learning. These findings have implications for the investigation of learning in other populations, as well as for the application of the video-task paradigm to comparative study.

  13. Fine motor movements while drawing during the encoding phase of a serial verbal recall task reduce working memory performance.

    PubMed

    Tindle, Richard; Longstaff, Mitchell G

    2016-02-01

    The time-based resource-sharing (TBRS) model of working memory indicates that secondary tasks that capture attention for relatively long periods can result in the interference of working memory processing and maintenance. The current study investigates if discrete and continuous movements have differing effects on a concurrent, verbal serial recall task. In the listening condition, participants were asked to recall spoken words presented in lists of six. In the drawing conditions, participants performed the same task while producing discrete (star) or continuous (circle) movements. As hypothesised, participants recalled more words overall in the listening condition compared to the combined drawing conditions. The prediction that the continuous movement condition would reduce recall compared to listening was also supported. Fine-grained analysis at each serial position revealed significantly more words were recalled at mid serial positions in the listening condition, with worst recall for the continuous condition at position 5 compared to the listening and discrete conditions. Kinematic analysis showed that participants increased the size and speed of the continuous movements resulting in a similar duration and number of strokes for each condition. The duration of brief pauses in the discrete condition was associated with the number of words recalled. The results indicate that fine motor movements reduced working memory performance; however, it was not merely performing a movement but the type of the movement that determined how resources were diverted. In the context of the TBRS, continuous movements could be capturing attention for longer periods relative to discrete movements, reducing verbal serial recall. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Surround Inhibition in the Primary Motor Cortex is Task-specifically Modulated in Non-professional Musicians but not in Healthy Controls During Real Piano Playing.

    PubMed

    Márquez, Gonzalo; Keller, Martin; Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Taube, Wolfgang

    2018-03-01

    Research has indicated that at the onset of a finger movement, unwanted contractions of adjacent muscles are prevented by inhibiting the cortical areas representing these muscles. This so-called surround inhibition (SI) seems relevant for the performance of selective finger movements but may not be necessary for tasks involving functional coupling between different finger muscles. Therefore, the present study compared SI between isolated finger movement and complex selective finger movements while playing a three-finger sequence on the piano in nine non-professional musicians and 10 untrained control participants. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to the contralateral motor cortex to assess SI in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI), abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) during the movement preparation and the late phasic phases. The results reveal stronger SI during the preparation phase than during the phasic phase (30.6% vs. 10.7%; P < 0.05) in the isolated-finger condition in both musicians and controls. Results also show higher SI in musicians during the preparation phase of the isolated finger condition compared to the preparation phase of the three-finger sequence (40% vs. 15%; P < 0.05). However, the control group did not show this task-specific modulation of SI (isolated: 25% vs. sequence: 25%; P > 0.05). Thus, musicians were able to modulate SI between conditions whereas control participants revealed constant levels of SI. Therefore, it may be assumed that long-term training as observed in skilled musicians is accompanied by task-specific effects on SI modulation potentially relating to the ability to perform selective and complex finger movements. Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Common and disorder-specific neural responses to emotional faces in generalised anxiety, social anxiety and panic disorders

    PubMed Central

    Fonzo, Gregory A.; Ramsawh, Holly J.; Flagan, Taru M.; Sullivan, Sarah G.; Letamendi, Andrea; Simmons, Alan N.; Paulus, Martin P.; Stein, Murray B.

    2015-01-01

    Background Although evidence exists for abnormal brain function across various anxiety disorders, direct comparison of neural function across diagnoses is needed to elicit abnormalities common across disorders and those distinct to a particular diagnosis. Aims To delineate common and distinct abnormalities within generalised anxiety (GAD), panic and social anxiety disorder (SAD) during affective processing. Method Fifty-nine adults (15 with GAD, 15 with panic disorder, 14 with SAD, and 15 healthy controls) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while completing a facial emotion matching task with fearful, angry and happy faces. Results Greater differential right amygdala activation to matching fearful v. happy facial expressions related to greater negative affectivity (i.e. trait anxiety) and was heightened across all anxiety disorder groups compared with controls. Collapsing across emotional face types, participants with panic disorder uniquely displayed greater posterior insula activation. Conclusions These preliminary results highlight a common neural basis for clinical anxiety in these diagnoses and also suggest the presence of disorder-specific dysfunction. PMID:25573399

  16. Statistics of natural movements are reflected in motor errors.

    PubMed

    Howard, Ian S; Ingram, James N; Körding, Konrad P; Wolpert, Daniel M

    2009-09-01

    Humans use their arms to engage in a wide variety of motor tasks during everyday life. However, little is known about the statistics of these natural arm movements. Studies of the sensory system have shown that the statistics of sensory inputs are key to determining sensory processing. We hypothesized that the statistics of natural everyday movements may, in a similar way, influence motor performance as measured in laboratory-based tasks. We developed a portable motion-tracking system that could be worn by subjects as they went about their daily routine outside of a laboratory setting. We found that the well-documented symmetry bias is reflected in the relative incidence of movements made during everyday tasks. Specifically, symmetric and antisymmetric movements are predominant at low frequencies, whereas only symmetric movements are predominant at high frequencies. Moreover, the statistics of natural movements, that is, their relative incidence, correlated with subjects' performance on a laboratory-based phase-tracking task. These results provide a link between natural movement statistics and motor performance and confirm that the symmetry bias documented in laboratory studies is a natural feature of human movement.

  17. Transcranial sonography in movement disorders: an interesting tool for diagnostic perspectives.

    PubMed

    Sanzaro, E; Iemolo, F

    2016-03-01

    Transcranial sonography has become an important tool for the diagnosis of various movement disorders. In most patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease, a markedly hyperechogenic substantia nigra (SN) was detected on at least one side. We have highlighted the sonographic features that might help the differential diagnosis of PD and other movement disorders. Our investigation involved 30 patients (age 45-85 years) with idiopathic Parkinson disease, 2 multiple system atrophy, 3 progressive supranuclear palsy and 2 patients with restless legs syndrome. In accordance with several previous studies, we detected hyperechogenicity of the SN by TCS in 90% of patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease. Subjects with a marked severity disease had a larger extent of the hyperechogenic SN signal. All progressive supranuclear palsy patients had an enlarged third ventricle and, in two cases, we observed the presence of hyperechoic areas in the lentiform nucleus. This last ultrasonographic feature was also seen in our patients with multiple system atrophy. TCS abnormalities of the SN, midbrain raphe and basal ganglia are characteristics of several movement and affective disorders. These features are less easily detected by other techniques, such as CT and MRI, which enable the exclusion of structural lesions, such as tumours and multi-infarct disease, because the physical principle differs from other imaging methods.

  18. Sleep-Related Rhythmic Movement Disorder and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Five Adult Patients

    PubMed Central

    Chiaro, Giacomo; Maestri, Michelangelo; Riccardi, Silvia; Haba-Rubio, José; Miano, Silvia; Bassetti, Claudio L.; Heinzer, Raphaël C.; Manconi, Mauro

    2017-01-01

    Sleep-related rhythmic movements (SRRMs) are typical in infancy and childhood, where they usually occur at the wake-to-sleep transition. However, they have rarely been observed in adults, where they can be idiopathic or associated with other sleep disorders including sleep apnea. We report a case series of 5 adults with sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder, 4 of whom had a previous history of SRRMs in childhood. SRRMs mostly occurred in consolidated sleep, in association with pathological respiratory events, predominantly longer ones, especially during stage R sleep, and recovered in 1 patient with continuous positive airway pressure therapy. We hypothesize that sleep apneas may act as a trigger of rhythmic motor events through a respiratory-related arousal mechanism in genetically predisposed subjects. Citation: Chiaro G, Maestri M, Riccardi S, Haba-Rubio J, Miano S, Bassetti CL, Heinzer RC, Manconi M. Sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder and obstructive sleep apnea in five adult patients. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(10):1213–1217. PMID:28859719

  19. Auditory rhythmic cueing in movement rehabilitation: findings and possible mechanisms

    PubMed Central

    Schaefer, Rebecca S.

    2014-01-01

    Moving to music is intuitive and spontaneous, and music is widely used to support movement, most commonly during exercise. Auditory cues are increasingly also used in the rehabilitation of disordered movement, by aligning actions to sounds such as a metronome or music. Here, the effect of rhythmic auditory cueing on movement is discussed and representative findings of cued movement rehabilitation are considered for several movement disorders, specifically post-stroke motor impairment, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. There are multiple explanations for the efficacy of cued movement practice. Potentially relevant, non-mutually exclusive mechanisms include the acceleration of learning; qualitatively different motor learning owing to an auditory context; effects of increased temporal skills through rhythmic practices and motivational aspects of musical rhythm. Further considerations of rehabilitation paradigm efficacy focus on specific movement disorders, intervention methods and complexity of the auditory cues. Although clinical interventions using rhythmic auditory cueing do not show consistently positive results, it is argued that internal mechanisms of temporal prediction and tracking are crucial, and further research may inform rehabilitation practice to increase intervention efficacy. PMID:25385780

  20. Task-specific singing dystonia: vocal instability that technique cannot fix.

    PubMed

    Halstead, Lucinda A; McBroom, Deanna M; Bonilha, Heather Shaw

    2015-01-01

    Singer's dystonia is a rare variation of focal laryngeal dystonia presenting only during specific tasks in the singing voice. It is underdiagnosed since it is commonly attributed to technique problems including increased muscle tension, register transition, or wobble. Singer's dystonia differs from technique-related issues in that it is task- and/or pitch-specific, reproducible and occurs independently from the previously mentioned technical issues.This case series compares and contrasts profiles of four patients with singer's dystonia to increase our knowledge of this disorder. This retrospective case series includes a detailed case history, results of singing evaluations from individual voice teachers, review of singing voice samples by a singing voice specialist, evaluation by a laryngologist with endoscopy and laryngeal electromyography (LEMG), and spectral analysis of the voice samples by a speech-language pathologist. Results demonstrate the similarities and unique differences of individuals with singer's dystonia. Response to treatment and singing status varied from nearly complete relief of symptoms with botulinum toxin injections to minor relief of symptoms and discontinuation of singing. The following are the conclusions from this case series: (1) singer's dystonia exists as a separate entity from technique issues, (2) singer's dystonia is consistent with other focal task-specific dystonias found in musicians, (3) correctly diagnosing singer's dystonia allows singer's access to medical treatment of dystonia and an opportunity to modify their singing repertoire to continue singing with the voice they have, and (4) diagnosis of singer's dystonia requires careful sequential multidisciplinary evaluation to isolate the instability and confirm dystonia by LEMG and spectral voice analysis. Copyright © 2015 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Action specificity increases anticipatory performance and the expert advantage in natural interceptive tasks.

    PubMed

    Mann, David L; Abernethy, Bruce; Farrow, Damian

    2010-09-01

    The relationship between perception-action coupling and anticipatory skill in an interceptive task was examined using an in-situ temporal occlusion paradigm. Skilled and novice cricket batsmen were required to predict the direction of balls bowled towards them under four counterbalanced response conditions of increasing perception-action coupling: (i) verbal, (ii) lower-body movement only, (iii) full-body movement (no bat), and (iv) full-body movement with bat (i.e., the usual batting response). Skilled but not novice anticipation was found to improve as a function of coupling when responses were based on either no ball-flight, or early ball-flight information, with a response requiring even the lowest degree of body movement found to enhance anticipation when compared to a verbal prediction. Most importantly, a full-body movement using a bat elicited greater anticipation than an equivalent movement with no bat. This result highlights the important role that the requirement and/or opportunity to make bat-ball interception may play in eliciting skill differences for anticipation. Results verify the importance of using experimental conditions and task demands that closely reflect the natural performance environment in order to reveal the full nature of the expert advantage. 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Aggression Regulation in Day Treatment of Eating Disorders: Two-Centre RCT of a Brief Body and Movement-Oriented Intervention.

    PubMed

    Boerhout, Cees; Swart, Marte; Voskamp, Marjon; Troquete, Nadine A C; van Busschbach, Jooske T; Hoek, Hans W

    2017-01-01

    The objective is to evaluate a body and movement-oriented intervention on aggression regulation, specifically aimed towards reducing anger internalization in patients with an eating disorder. Patients were randomized to treatment-as-usual (TAU) plus the intervention (n = 38) or to TAU only (n = 32). The intervention was delivered by a psychomotor therapist. TAU consisted of multidisciplinary day treatment (3-5 days per week during 3-9 months). Anger coping (Self-Expression and Control Scale) and eating pathology (Eating Disorder Examination-Self-report Questionnaire) were measured at baseline and follow-up. Differences between pre-intervention and post-intervention scores were tested by using repeated measures ANOVA. The intervention group showed a significantly larger decrease of anger internalization than the control group (η 2  = 0.16, p = 0.001). Both groups showed a significant reduction in eating pathology, but differences between groups were not significant. A body and movement-oriented therapy seems a viable add-on for treating anger internalization in patients with an eating disorder. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

  3. Independent Causal Contributions of Alpha- and Beta-Band Oscillations during Movement Selection.

    PubMed

    Brinkman, Loek; Stolk, Arjen; Marshall, Tom R; Esterer, Sophie; Sharp, Poppy; Dijkerman, H Chris; de Lange, Floris P; Toni, Ivan

    2016-08-17

    To select a movement, specific neuronal populations controlling particular features of that movement need to be activated, whereas other populations are downregulated. The selective (dis)inhibition of cortical sensorimotor populations is governed by rhythmic neural activity in the alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (15-25 Hz) frequency range. However, it is unclear whether and how these rhythms contribute independently to motor behavior. Building on a recent dissociation of the sensorimotor alpha- and beta-band rhythms, we test the hypothesis that the beta-band rhythm governs the disinhibition of task-relevant neuronal populations, whereas the alpha-band rhythm suppresses neurons that may interfere with task performance. Cortical alpha- and beta-band rhythms were manipulated with transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) while human participants selected how to grasp an object. Stimulation was applied at either 10 or 20 Hz and was imposed on the sensorimotor cortex contralaterally or ipsilaterally to the grasping hand. In line with task-induced changes in endogenous spectral power, the effect of the tACS intervention depended on the frequency and site of stimulation. Whereas tACS stimulation generally increased movement selection times, 10 Hz stimulation led to relatively faster selection times when applied to the hemisphere ipsilateral to the grasping hand, compared with other stimulation conditions. These effects occurred selectively when multiple movements were considered. These observations functionally differentiate the causal contribution of alpha- and beta-band oscillations to movement selection. The findings suggest that sensorimotor beta-band rhythms disinhibit task-relevant populations, whereas alpha-band rhythms inhibit neuronal populations that could interfere with movement selection. This study shows dissociable effects of 10 Hz and 20 Hz tACS on the duration of movement selection. These observations have two elements of general relevance. First, the

  4. Office-based endoscopic botulinum toxin injection in laryngeal movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Kaderbay, A; Righini, C A; Castellanos, P F; Atallah, I

    2018-06-01

    Botulinum toxin injection is widely used for the treatment of laryngeal movement disorders. Electromyography-guided percutaneous injection is the technique most commonly used to perform intralaryngeal botulinum toxin injection. We describe an endoscopic approach for intralaryngeal botulinum toxin injection under local anaesthesia without using electromyography. A flexible video-endoscope with an operating channel is used. After local anaesthesia of the larynx by instillation of lidocaine, a flexible needle is inserted into the operating channel in order to inject the desired dose of botulinum toxin into the vocal and/or vestibular folds. Endoscopic botulinum toxin injection under local anaesthesia is a reliable technique for the treatment of laryngeal movement disorders. It can be performed by any laryngologist without the need for electromyography. It is easy to perform for the operator and comfortable for the patient. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  5. Classification effects of real and imaginary movement selective attention tasks on a P300-based brain-computer interface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salvaris, Mathew; Sepulveda, Francisco

    2010-10-01

    Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) rely on various electroencephalography methodologies that allow the user to convey their desired control to the machine. Common approaches include the use of event-related potentials (ERPs) such as the P300 and modulation of the beta and mu rhythms. All of these methods have their benefits and drawbacks. In this paper, three different selective attention tasks were tested in conjunction with a P300-based protocol (i.e. the standard counting of target stimuli as well as the conduction of real and imaginary movements in sync with the target stimuli). The three tasks were performed by a total of 10 participants, with the majority (7 out of 10) of the participants having never before participated in imaginary movement BCI experiments. Channels and methods used were optimized for the P300 ERP and no sensory-motor rhythms were explicitly used. The classifier used was a simple Fisher's linear discriminant. Results were encouraging, showing that on average the imaginary movement achieved a P300 versus No-P300 classification accuracy of 84.53%. In comparison, mental counting, the standard selective attention task used in previous studies, achieved 78.9% and real movement 90.3%. Furthermore, multiple trial classification results were recorded and compared, with real movement reaching 99.5% accuracy after four trials (12.8 s), imaginary movement reaching 99.5% accuracy after five trials (16 s) and counting reaching 98.2% accuracy after ten trials (32 s).

  6. Classification effects of real and imaginary movement selective attention tasks on a P300-based brain-computer interface.

    PubMed

    Salvaris, Mathew; Sepulveda, Francisco

    2010-10-01

    Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) rely on various electroencephalography methodologies that allow the user to convey their desired control to the machine. Common approaches include the use of event-related potentials (ERPs) such as the P300 and modulation of the beta and mu rhythms. All of these methods have their benefits and drawbacks. In this paper, three different selective attention tasks were tested in conjunction with a P300-based protocol (i.e. the standard counting of target stimuli as well as the conduction of real and imaginary movements in sync with the target stimuli). The three tasks were performed by a total of 10 participants, with the majority (7 out of 10) of the participants having never before participated in imaginary movement BCI experiments. Channels and methods used were optimized for the P300 ERP and no sensory-motor rhythms were explicitly used. The classifier used was a simple Fisher's linear discriminant. Results were encouraging, showing that on average the imaginary movement achieved a P300 versus No-P300 classification accuracy of 84.53%. In comparison, mental counting, the standard selective attention task used in previous studies, achieved 78.9% and real movement 90.3%. Furthermore, multiple trial classification results were recorded and compared, with real movement reaching 99.5% accuracy after four trials (12.8 s), imaginary movement reaching 99.5% accuracy after five trials (16 s) and counting reaching 98.2% accuracy after ten trials (32 s).

  7. Identification of neuromotor deficits common to autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and imitation deficits specific to autism spectrum disorder.

    PubMed

    Biscaldi, Monica; Rauh, Reinhold; Müller, Cora; Irion, Lisa; Saville, Christopher W N; Schulz, Eberhard; Klein, Christoph

    2015-12-01

    Deficits in motor and imitation abilities are a core finding in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but impaired motor functions are also found in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Given recent theorising about potential aetiological overlap between the two disorders, the present study aimed to assess difficulties in motor performance and imitation of facial movements and meaningless gestures in a sample of 24 ADHD patients, 22 patients with ASD, and 20 typically developing children, matched for age (6-13 years) and similar in IQ (>80). Furthermore, we explored the impact of comorbid ADHD symptoms on motor and imitation performance in the ASD sample and the interrelationships between the two groups of variables in the clinical groups separately. The results show motor dysfunction was common to both disorders, but imitation deficits were specific to ASD. Together with the pattern of interrelated motor and imitation abilities, which we found exclusively in the ASD group, our findings suggest complex phenotypic, and possibly aetiological, relationships between the two neurodevelopmental conditions.

  8. A Psychometric Measure of Working Memory Capacity for Configured Body Movement

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Ying Choon; Coulson, Seana

    2014-01-01

    Working memory (WM) models have traditionally assumed at least two domain-specific storage systems for verbal and visuo-spatial information. We review data that suggest the existence of an additional slave system devoted to the temporary storage of body movements, and present a novel instrument for its assessment: the movement span task. The movement span task assesses individuals' ability to remember and reproduce meaningless configurations of the body. During the encoding phase of a trial, participants watch short videos of meaningless movements presented in sets varying in size from one to five items. Immediately after encoding, they are prompted to reenact as many items as possible. The movement span task was administered to 90 participants along with standard tests of verbal WM, visuo-spatial WM, and a gesture classification test in which participants judged whether a speaker's gestures were congruent or incongruent with his accompanying speech. Performance on the gesture classification task was not related to standard measures of verbal or visuo-spatial working memory capacity, but was predicted by scores on the movement span task. Results suggest the movement span task can serve as an assessment of individual differences in WM capacity for body-centric information. PMID:24465437

  9. [The importance of movement-directed interventions in the multidisciplinary treatment of binge eating disorder: an overview].

    PubMed

    Vancampfort, D; Vanderlinden, J; Pieters, G; De Herdt, A; Schueremans, A; Adriaens, A; Van Der Borght, W; De Hert, M; Probst, M

    2012-01-01

    More than three out of four persons with binge eating disorder do not get enough physical exercise. To collect scientific evidence of the effects and benefits that movement and physical exercise can have on persons with a binge eating disorder. PubMed, PsychInfo, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Library, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, the Dutch Journal of Psychiatry (Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie), het Tijdschrift voor Vaktherapie and Actual Themata derived from psychomotor therapy were screened for the period January 1994 to August 2011. The methodological quality of the studies was determined on the basis of a checklist. Evidence for the effectiveness of the interventions was summarised by best-evidence synthesis. Eight studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Strong evidence was found for: 1) significant weight-loss after movement interventions; 2) fewer symptoms of depression after a combination of both movement and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) than after CBT on its own. There was only limited evidence for 1) the fact that the combination of movement and CBT leads to less eating disorder pathology than does CBT alone; 2) the beneficial effects of yoga on weight-loss as well as on the reduction of eating disorder pathology.There are indications that walking can be helpful in reducing of eating disorder pathology. Activities involving movement and physical exercise deserve to play an important role in the multidisciplinary treatment of binge eating disorders.

  10. Disturbed jaw behavior in whiplash-associated disorders during rhythmic jaw movements.

    PubMed

    Häggman-Henrikson, B; Zafar, H; Eriksson, P-O

    2002-11-01

    As shown previously, "functional jaw movements" are the result of coordinated activation of jaw as well as neck muscles, leading to simultaneous movements in the temporomandibular, atlanto-occipital, and cervical spine joints. In this study, the effect of neck trauma on natural jaw function was evaluated in 12 individuals suffering from whiplash-associated disorders (WAD). Spatiotemporal characteristics of mandibular and concomitant head movements were evaluated for three different modes of rhythmic jaw activities: self-paced continuous maximal jaw-opening/-closing movements, paced continuous maximal jaw-opening/-closing movements at 50 cycles/minute, and unilateral chewing. Compared with healthy subjects, the WAD group showed smaller magnitude and altered coordination pattern (a change in temporal relations) of mandibular and head movements. In conclusion, these results show that neck trauma can derange integrated jaw and neck behavior, and underline the functional coupling between the jaw and head-neck motor systems.

  11. Post-traumatic stress disorder is associated with limited executive resources in a working memory task

    PubMed Central

    Honzel, Nikki; Justus, Timothy; Swick, Diane

    2015-01-01

    Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can show declines in working memory. A dual-task design was used to determine if these impairments are linked to executive control limitations. Participants performed a Sternberg memory task with either one or four letters. In the dual-task condition, the maintenance period was filled with an arrow flanker task. PTSD patients were less accurate on the working memory task than controls, especially in the dual-task condition. In the single-task condition, both groups showed similar patterns of brain potentials from 300–500 ms when discriminating old and new probes. However, when taxed with an additional task, the event-related potentials (ERPs) of the PTSD group no longer differentiated old and new probes. In contrast, interference resolution processes in both the single- and dual-task conditions of the flanker were intact. The lack of differentiation in the ERPs reflects impaired working memory performance under more difficult dual-task conditions. Exacerbated difficulty in performing a working memory task with concurrent task demands suggests a specific limitation in executive control resources in PTSD. PMID:24165904

  12. Periodic Limb Movements During Sleep Mimicking REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: A New Form of Periodic Limb Movement Disorder.

    PubMed

    Gaig, Carles; Iranzo, Alex; Pujol, Montserrat; Perez, Hernando; Santamaria, Joan

    2017-03-01

    To describe a group of patients referred because of abnormal sleep behaviors that were suggestive of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) in whom video-polysomnography ruled out RBD and showed the reported behaviors associated with vigorous periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS). Clinical history and video-polysomnography review of patients identified during routine visits in a sleep center. Patients were 15 men and 2 women with a median age of 66 (range: 48-77) years. Reported sleep behaviors were kicking (n = 17), punching (n = 16), gesticulating (n = 8), falling out of bed (n = 5), assaulting the bed partner (n = 2), talking (n = 15), and shouting (n = 10). Behaviors resulted in injuries in 3 bed partners and 1 patient. Twelve (70.6%) patients were not aware of displaying abnormal sleep behaviors that were only noticed by their bed partners. Ten (58.8%) patients recalled unpleasant dreams such as being attacked or chased. Video-polysomnography showed (1) frequent and vigorous stereotyped PLMS involving the lower limbs, upper limbs, and trunk (median PLMS index 61.2; median PLMS index in NREM sleep 61.9; during REM sleep only 8 patients had PLMS and their median PLMS index in REM sleep was 39.5); (2) abnormal behaviors (e.g., punching, groaning) during some of the arousals that immediately followed PLMS in NREM sleep; and (3) ruled out RBD and other sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. Dopaminergic agents were prescribed in 14 out of the 17 patients and resulted in improvement of abnormal sleep behaviors and unpleasant dreams in all of them. After dopaminergic treatment, follow-up video-polysomnography in 7 patients showed a decrease in the median PLMS index from baseline (108.9 vs. 19.2, p = .002) and absence of abnormal behaviors during the arousals. Abnormal sleep behaviors and unpleasant dreams simulating RBD symptomatology may occur in patients with severe PLMS. In these cases, video-polysomnography ruled out RBD and

  13. On-line compensation for perturbations of a reaching movement is cerebellar dependent: support for the task dependency hypothesis.

    PubMed

    Shimansky, Yury; Wang, Jian-Jun; Bauer, Richard A; Bracha, Vlastislav; Bloedel, James R

    2004-03-01

    Although the cerebellum has been shown to be critical for the acquisition and retention of adaptive modifications in certain reflex behaviors, this structure's role in the learning of motor skills required to execute complex voluntary goal-directed movements still is unclear. This study explores this issue by analyzing the effects of inactivating the interposed and dentate cerebellar nuclei on the adaptation required to compensate for an external elastic load applied during a reaching movement. We show that cats with these nuclei inactivated can adapt to predictable perturbations of the forelimb during a goal-directed reach by including a compensatory component in the motor plan prior to movement initiation. In contrast, when comparable compensatory modifications must be triggered on-line because the perturbations are applied in randomized trials (i.e., unpredictably), such adaptive responses cannot be executed or reacquired after the interposed and dentate nuclei are inactivated. These findings provide the first demonstration of the condition-dependent nature of the cerebellum's contribution to the learning of a specific volitional task.

  14. Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency: late onset of movement disorder and preserved expressive language.

    PubMed

    O'Rourke, Declan J; Ryan, Stephanie; Salomons, Gajja; Jakobs, Cornelis; Monavari, Ahmad; King, Mary D

    2009-05-01

    Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency is a disorder of creatine biosynthesis, characterized by early-onset learning disability and epilepsy in most affected children. Severe expressive language delay is a constant feature even in the mildest clinical phenotypes.We report the clinical, biochemical, imaging, and treatment data of two female siblings (18y and 13y) with an unusual phenotype of GAMT deficiency. The oldest sibling had subacute onset of a movement disorder at age 17 years, later than has been previously reported. The younger sibling had better language skills than previously described in this disorder. After treatment with creatine, arginine restriction and ornithine-supplemented diet, seizure severity and movement disorder were reduced but cognition did not improve. This report confirms that GAMT deficiency, a heterogeneous, potentially treatable disorder, detected by increased levels of guanidinoacetate in body fluids (e.g. plasma or urine) or by an abnormal creatine peak on magnetic resonance spectroscopy, should be considered in patients of any age with unexplained, apparently static learning disability and epilepsy.

  15. Saccadic Eye Movement Task Identifies Cognitive Deficits in Children with Schizophrenia, but Not in Unaffected Child Relatives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ross, Randal G.; Heinlein, Shari; Zerbe, Gary O.; Radant, Allen

    2005-01-01

    Background: The delayed oculomotor response (DOR) task requires response inhibition followed by movement of gaze towards a known spatial location without a current stimulus. Abnormalities in response inhibition and in the spatial accuracy of the eye movement are found in individuals with schizophrenia and in many of their relatives, supporting the…

  16. Anticipatory Smooth Eye Movements in Autism Spectrum Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Aitkin, Cordelia D.; Santos, Elio M.; Kowler, Eileen

    2013-01-01

    Smooth pursuit eye movements are important for vision because they maintain the line of sight on targets that move smoothly within the visual field. Smooth pursuit is driven by neural representations of motion, including a surprisingly strong influence of high-level signals representing expected motion. We studied anticipatory smooth eye movements (defined as smooth eye movements in the direction of expected future motion) produced by salient visual cues in a group of high-functioning observers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a condition that has been associated with difficulties in either generating predictions, or translating predictions into effective motor commands. Eye movements were recorded while participants pursued the motion of a disc that moved within an outline drawing of an inverted Y-shaped tube. The cue to the motion path was a visual barrier that blocked the untraveled branch (right or left) of the tube. ASD participants showed strong anticipatory smooth eye movements whose velocity was the same as that of a group of neurotypical participants. Anticipatory smooth eye movements appeared on the very first cued trial, indicating that trial-by-trial learning was not responsible for the responses. These results are significant because they show that anticipatory capacities are intact in high-functioning ASD in cases where the cue to the motion path is highly salient and unambiguous. Once the ability to generate anticipatory pursuit is demonstrated, the study of the anticipatory responses with a variety of types of cues provides a window into the perceptual or cognitive processes that underlie the interpretation of events in natural environments or social situations. PMID:24376667

  17. Anticipatory smooth eye movements in autism spectrum disorder.

    PubMed

    Aitkin, Cordelia D; Santos, Elio M; Kowler, Eileen

    2013-01-01

    Smooth pursuit eye movements are important for vision because they maintain the line of sight on targets that move smoothly within the visual field. Smooth pursuit is driven by neural representations of motion, including a surprisingly strong influence of high-level signals representing expected motion. We studied anticipatory smooth eye movements (defined as smooth eye movements in the direction of expected future motion) produced by salient visual cues in a group of high-functioning observers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a condition that has been associated with difficulties in either generating predictions, or translating predictions into effective motor commands. Eye movements were recorded while participants pursued the motion of a disc that moved within an outline drawing of an inverted Y-shaped tube. The cue to the motion path was a visual barrier that blocked the untraveled branch (right or left) of the tube. ASD participants showed strong anticipatory smooth eye movements whose velocity was the same as that of a group of neurotypical participants. Anticipatory smooth eye movements appeared on the very first cued trial, indicating that trial-by-trial learning was not responsible for the responses. These results are significant because they show that anticipatory capacities are intact in high-functioning ASD in cases where the cue to the motion path is highly salient and unambiguous. Once the ability to generate anticipatory pursuit is demonstrated, the study of the anticipatory responses with a variety of types of cues provides a window into the perceptual or cognitive processes that underlie the interpretation of events in natural environments or social situations.

  18. Classification of neck movement patterns related to whiplash-associated disorders using neural networks.

    PubMed

    Grip, Helena; Ohberg, Fredrik; Wiklund, Urban; Sterner, Ylva; Karlsson, J Stefan; Gerdle, Björn

    2003-12-01

    This paper presents a new method for classification of neck movement patterns related to Whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) using a resilient backpropagation neural network (BPNN). WAD are a common diagnosis after neck trauma, typically caused by rear-end car accidents. Since physical injuries seldom are found with present imaging techniques, the diagnosis can be difficult to make. The active range of the neck is often visually inspected in patients with neck pain, but this is a subjective measure, and a more objective decision support system, that gives a reliable and more detailed analysis of neck movement pattern, is needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the predictive ability of a BPNN, using neck movement variables as input. Three-dimensional (3-D) neck movement data from 59 subjects with WAD and 56 control subjects were collected with a ProReflex system. Rotation angle and angle velocity were calculated using the instantaneous helical axis method and motion variables were extracted. A principal component analysis was performed in order to reduce data and improve the BPNN performance. BPNNs with six hidden nodes had a predictivity of 0.89, a sensitivity of 0.90 and a specificity of 0.88, which are very promising results. This shows that neck movement analysis combined with a neural network could build the basis of a decision support system for classifying suspected WAD, even though further evaluation of the method is needed.

  19. Greater disruption to control of voluntary saccades in autistic disorder than Asperger's disorder: evidence for greater cerebellar involvement in autism?

    PubMed

    Stanley-Cary, Chloe; Rinehart, Nicole; Tonge, Bruce; White, Owen; Fielding, Joanne

    2011-03-01

    It remains unclear whether autism and Asperger's disorder (AD) exist on a symptom continuum or are separate disorders with discrete neurobiological underpinnings. In addition to impairments in communication and social cognition, motor deficits constitute a significant clinical feature in both disorders. It has been suggested that motor deficits and in particular the integrity of cerebellar modulation of movement may differentiate these disorders. We used a simple volitional saccade task to comprehensively profile the integrity of voluntary ocular motor behaviour in individuals with high functioning autism (HFA) or AD, and included measures sensitive to cerebellar dysfunction. We tested three groups of age-matched young males with normal intelligence (full scale, verbal, and performance IQ estimates >70) aged between 11 and 19 years; nine with AD, eight with HFA, and ten normally developing males as the comparison group. Overall, the metrics and dynamics of the voluntary saccades produced in this task were preserved in the AD group. In contrast, the HFA group demonstrated relatively preserved mean measures of ocular motricity with cerebellar-like deficits demonstrated in increased variability on measures of response time, final eye position, and movement dynamics. These deficits were considered to be consistent with reduced cerebellar online adaptation of movement. The results support the notion that the integrity of cerebellar modulation of movement may be different in AD and HFA, suggesting potentially differential neurobiological substrates may underpin these complex disorders.

  20. Dysautonomia Rating Scales in Parkinson’s Disease: Sialorrhea, Dysphagia, and Constipation—Critique and Recommendations by Movement Disorders Task Force on Rating Scales for Parkinson’s Disease

    PubMed Central

    Evatt, Marian L.; Chaudhuri, K. Ray; Chou, Kelvin L.; Cubo, Ester; Hinson, Vanessa; Kompoliti, Katie; Yang, Chengwu; Poewe, Werner; Rascol, Olivier; Sampaio, Cristina; Stebbins, Glenn T.; Goetz, Christopher G.

    2015-01-01

    Upper and lower gastrointestinal dysautonomia symptoms (GIDS)—sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and often socially as well as physically disabling for patients. Available invasive quantitative measures for assessing these symptoms and their response to therapy are time-consuming, require specialized equipment, can cause patient discomfort and present patients with risk. The Movement Disorders Society commissioned a task force to assess available clinical rating scales, critique their clinimetric properties, and make recommendations regarding their clinical utility. Six clinical researchers and a biostatistician systematically searched the literature for scales of sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation, evaluated the scales’ previous use, performance parameters, and quality of validation data (if available). A scale was designated “Recommended” if the scale was used in clinical studies beyond the group that developed it, has been specifically used in PD reports, and clinimetric studies have established that it is a valid, reliable, and sensitive. “Suggested” scales met at least part of the above criteria, but fell short of meeting all. Based on the systematic review, scales for individual symptoms of sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation were identified along with three global scales that include these symptoms in the context of assessing dysautonomia or nonmotor symptoms. Three sialorrhea scales met criteria for Suggested: Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale (DSFS), Drooling Rating Scale, and Sialorrhea Clinical Scale for PD (SCS-PD). Two dysphagia scales, the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ) and Dysphagia-Specific Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL), met criteria for Suggested. Although Rome III constipation module is widely accepted in the gastroenterology community, and the earlier version from the Rome II criteria has been used in a single study of PD patients, neither met criteria for Suggested

  1. Moving Forward: Advances in the Treatment of Movement Disorders with Deep Brain Stimulation

    PubMed Central

    Schiefer, Terry K.; Matsumoto, Joseph Y.; Lee, Kendall H.

    2011-01-01

    The modern era of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery has ushered in state of the art technologies for the treatment of movement disorders, particularly Parkinson’s disease (PD), tremor, and dystonia. After years of experience with various surgical therapies, the eventual shortcomings of both medical and surgical treatments, and several serendipitous discoveries, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has risen to the forefront as a highly effective, safe, and reversible treatment for these conditions. Idiopathic advanced PD can be treated with thalamic, globus pallidus internus (GPi), or subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS. Thalamic DBS primarily relieves tremor while GPi and STN DBS alleviate a wide range of Parkinsonian symptoms. Thalamic DBS is also used in the treatment of other types of tremor, particularly essential tremor, with excellent results. Both primary and various types of secondary dystonia can be treated very effectively with GPi DBS. The variety of anatomical targets for these movement disorders is indicative of the network-level dysfunction mediating these movement disturbances. Despite an increasing understanding of the clinical benefits of DBS, little is known about how DBS can create such wide sweeping neuromodulatory effects. The key to improving this therapeutic modality and discovering new ways to treat these and other neurologic conditions lies in better understanding the intricacies of DBS. Here we review the history and pertinent clinical data for DBS treatment of PD, tremor, and dystonia. While multiple regions of the brain have been targeted for DBS in the treatment of these movement disorders, this review article focuses on those that are most commonly used in current clinical practice. Our search criteria for PubMed included combinations of the following terms: DBS, neuromodulation, movement disorders, PD, tremor, dystonia, and history. Dates were not restricted. PMID:22084629

  2. Differential performance on tasks of affective processing and decision-making in patients with Panic Disorder and Panic Disorder with comorbid Major Depressive Disorder.

    PubMed

    Kaplan, Johanna S; Erickson, Kristine; Luckenbaugh, David A; Weiland-Fiedler, Petra; Geraci, Marilla; Sahakian, Barbara J; Charney, Dennis; Drevets, Wayne C; Neumeister, Alexander

    2006-10-01

    Neuropsychological studies have provided evidence for deficits in psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and mood disorders. However, neuropsychological function in Panic Disorder (PD) or PD with a comorbid diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has not been comprehensively studied. The present study investigated neuropsychological functioning in patients with PD and PD + MDD by focusing on tasks that assess attention, psychomotor speed, executive function, decision-making, and affective processing. Twenty-two unmedicated patients with PD, eleven of whom had a secondary diagnosis of MDD, were compared to twenty-two healthy controls, matched for gender, age, and intelligence on tasks of attention, memory, psychomotor speed, executive function, decision-making, and affective processing from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), Cambridge Gamble Task, and Affective Go/No-go Task. Relative to matched healthy controls, patients with PD + MDD displayed an attentional bias toward negatively-valenced verbal stimuli (Affective Go/No-go Task) and longer decision-making latencies (Cambridge Gamble Task). Furthermore, the PD + MDD group committed more errors on a task of memory and visual discrimination compared to their controls. In contrast, no group differences were found for PD patients relative to matched control subjects. The sample size was limited, however, all patients were drug-free at the time of testing. The PD + MDD patients demonstrated deficits on a task involving visual discrimination and working memory, and an attentional bias towards negatively-valenced stimuli. In addition, patients with comorbid depression provided qualitatively different responses in the areas of affective and decision-making processes.

  3. Movement Disorders and Other Motor Abnormalities in Adults With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

    PubMed Central

    Boot, Erik; Butcher, Nancy J; van Amelsvoort, Thérèse AMJ; Lang, Anthony E; Marras, Connie; Pondal, Margarita; Andrade, Danielle M; Fung, Wai Lun Alan; Bassett, Anne S

    2015-01-01

    Movement abnormalities are frequently reported in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS), but knowledge in this area is scarce in the increasing adult population. We report on five individuals illustrative of movement disorders and other motor abnormalities in adults with 22q11.2DS. In addition to an increased susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders, seizures, and early-onset Parkinson disease, the underlying brain dysfunction associated with 22q11.2DS may give rise to an increased vulnerability to multiple movement abnormalities, including those influenced by medications. Movement abnormalities may also be secondary to treatable endocrine diseases and congenital musculoskeletal abnormalities. We propose that movement abnormalities may be common in adults with 22q11.2DS and discuss the implications and challenges important to clinical practice. PMID:25684639

  4. Moving your eyes to solution: effects of movements on the perception of a problem-solving task.

    PubMed

    Werner, K; Raab, M

    2014-01-01

    There is ample evidence suggesting a bidirectional connection between bodily movements and cognitive processes, such as problem solving. Current research suggests that previous movements can influence the problem-solving process, but it is unclear what phase of this process is affected. Therefore, we investigated participants' gaze behaviour in the first phase of arithmetic problem solving with two groups (plus group, minus group) to explore a spatial bias toward the left or the right while perceiving a problem-solving task (the water-jar problem) after two different movements-that is, for the plus group, sorting marbles from two outer bowls into one in the middle, and for the minus group, sorting marbles from the middle bowl to the outer ones. We showed a right shift of spatial bias for the plus and to the left for the minus group in the perception and problem tasks. Although movements affected gaze, the groups did not differ in their overall problem-solving strategies; however, the first correct solutions did differ. This study provides further evidence of sensorimotor effects on problem solving and spatial bias and offers insight into how a two-phase problem-solving process is guided by sensorimotor information.

  5. Idiom Comprehension Deficits in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Korean Autism Social Language Task.

    PubMed

    Lee, Seul Bee; Song, Seung Ha; Ham, Ju Hyun; Song, Dong Ho; Cheon, Keun-Ah

    2015-11-01

    High-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves pragmatic impairment of language skills. Among numerous tasks for assessing pragmatic linguistic skills, idioms are important to evaluating high-functioning ASD. Nevertheless, no assessment tool has been developed with specific consideration of Korean culture. Therefore, we designed the Korean Autism Social Language Task (KASLAT) to test idiom comprehension in ASD. The aim of the current study was to introduce this novel psychological tool and evaluate idiom comprehension deficits in high-functioning ASD. The participants included 42 children, ages 6-11 years, who visited our child psychiatric clinic between April 2014 and May 2015. The ASD group comprised 16 children; the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group consisted of 16 children. An additional 10 normal control children who had not been diagnosed with either disorder participated in this study. Idiom comprehension ability was assessed in these three groups using the KASLAT. Both ASD and ADHD groups had significantly lower scores on the matched and mismatched tasks, compared to the normal control children (matched tasks mean score: ASD 11.56, ADHD 11.56, normal control 14.30; mismatched tasks mean score: ASD 6.50, ADHD 4.31, normal control 11.30). However, no significant differences were found in scores of KASLAT between the ADHD and ASD groups. These findings suggest that children with ASD exhibit greater impairment in idiom comprehension, compared to normal control children. The KASLAT may be useful in evaluating idiom comprehension ability.

  6. Motor Imagery in Asperger Syndrome: Testing Action Simulation by the Hand Laterality Task

    PubMed Central

    Conson, Massimiliano; Mazzarella, Elisabetta; Frolli, Alessandro; Esposito, Dalila; Marino, Nicoletta; Trojano, Luigi; Massagli, Angelo; Gison, Giovanna; Aprea, Nellantonio; Grossi, Dario

    2013-01-01

    Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental condition within the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) characterized by specific difficulties in social interaction, communication and behavioural control. In recent years, it has been suggested that ASD is related to a dysfunction of action simulation processes, but studies employing imitation or action observation tasks provided mixed results. Here, we addressed action simulation processes in adolescents with AS by means of a motor imagery task, the classical hand laterality task (to decide whether a rotated hand image is left or right); mental rotation of letters was also evaluated. As a specific marker of action simulation in hand rotation, we assessed the so-called biomechanical effect, that is the advantage for judging hand pictures showing physically comfortable versus physically awkward positions. We found the biomechanical effect in typically-developing participants but not in participants with AS. Overall performance on both hand laterality and letter rotation tasks, instead, did not differ in the two groups. These findings demonstrated a specific alteration of motor imagery skills in AS. We suggest that impaired mental simulation and imitation of goal-less movements in ASD could be related to shared cognitive mechanisms. PMID:23894683

  7. Eye Movements Reveal Fast, Voice-Specific Priming

    PubMed Central

    Papesh, Megan H.; Goldinger, Stephen D.; Hout, Michael C.

    2015-01-01

    In spoken word perception, voice specificity effects are well-documented: When people hear repeated words in some task, performance is generally better when repeated items are presented in their originally heard voices, relative to changed voices. A key theoretical question about voice specificity effects concerns their time-course: Some studies suggest that episodic traces exert their influence late in lexical processing (the time-course hypothesis; McLennan & Luce, 2005), whereas others suggest that episodic traces influence immediate, online processing. We report two eye-tracking studies investigating the time-course of voice-specific priming within and across cognitive tasks. In Experiment 1, participants performed modified lexical decision or semantic classification to words spoken by four speakers. The tasks required participants to click a red “×” or a blue “+” located randomly within separate visual half-fields, necessitating trial-by-trial visual search with consistent half-field response mapping. After a break, participants completed a second block with new and repeated items, half spoken in changed voices. Voice effects were robust very early, appearing in saccade initiation times. Experiment 2 replicated this pattern while changing tasks across blocks, ruling out a response priming account. In the General Discussion, we address the time-course hypothesis, focusing on the challenge it presents for empirical disconfirmation, and highlighting the broad importance of indexical effects, beyond studies of priming. PMID:26726911

  8. Will working memory training generalize to improve off-task behavior in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?

    PubMed

    Green, Chloe T; Long, Debra L; Green, David; Iosif, Ana-Maria; Dixon, J Faye; Miller, Meghan R; Fassbender, Catherine; Schweitzer, Julie B

    2012-07-01

    Computerized working memory and executive function training programs designed to target specific impairments in executive functioning are becoming increasingly available, yet how well these programs generalize to improve functional deficits in disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), beyond the training context is not well-established. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which working memory (WM) training in children with ADHD would diminish a core dysfunctional behavior associated with the disorder, "off-task" behavior during academic task performance. The effect of computerized WM training (adaptive) was compared to a placebo condition (nonadaptive) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design in 26 children (18 males; age, 7 to 14 years old) diagnosed with ADHD. Participants completed the training in approximately 25 sessions. The Restricted Academic Situations Task (RAST) observational system was used to assess aspects of off-task behavior during the completion of an academic task. Traditional measures of ADHD symptoms (Conners' Parent Rating Scale) and WM ability (standardized WM tests) were also collected. WM training led to significant reductions in off-task ADHD-associated behavior on the RAST system and improvement on WM tests. There were no significant differences between groups in improvement on parent rating scales. Findings lend insight into the generalizability of the effects of WM training and the relation between deficits in WM and off-task behavioral components of ADHD. These preliminary data suggest WM training may provide a mechanism for indirectly altering academic performance in children with ADHD.

  9. Head Rotation Movement Times.

    PubMed

    Hoffmann, Errol R; Chan, Alan H S; Heung, P T

    2017-09-01

    The aim of this study was to measure head rotation movement times in a Fitts' paradigm and to investigate the transition region from ballistic movements to visually controlled movements as the task index of difficulty (ID) increases. For head rotation, there are gaps in the knowledge of the effects of movement amplitude and task difficulty around the critical transition region from ballistic movements to visually controlled movements. Under the conditions of 11 ID values (from 1.0 to 6.0) and five movement amplitudes (20° to 60°), participants performed a head rotation task, and movement times were measured. Both the movement amplitude and task difficulty have effects on movement times at low IDs, but movement times are dependent only on ID at higher ID values. Movement times of participants are higher than for arm/hand movements, for both ballistic and visually controlled movements. The information-processing rate of head rotational movements, at high ID values, is about half that of arm movements. As an input mode, head rotations are not as efficient as the arm system either in ability to use rapid ballistic movements or in the rate at which information may be processed. The data of this study add to those in the review of Hoffmann for the critical IDs of different body motions. The data also allow design for the best arrangement of display that is under the design constraints of limited display area and difficulty of head-controlled movements in a data-inputting task.

  10. Fostering Social Cognition through an Imitation- and Synchronization-Based Dance/Movement Intervention in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Controlled Proof-of-Concept Study.

    PubMed

    Koehne, Svenja; Behrends, Andrea; Fairhurst, Merle T; Dziobek, Isabel

    2016-01-01

    Since social cognition is impaired in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this study aimed at establishing the efficacy of a newly developed imitation- and synchronization-based dance/movement intervention (SI-DMI) in fostering emotion inference and empathic feelings (emotional reaction to feelings of others) in adults with high-functioning ASD. Fifty-five adults with ASD (IQ ≥85) who were blinded to the aim of the study were assigned to receive either 10 weeks of a dance/movement intervention focusing on interpersonal movement imitation and synchronization (SI-DMI, n = 27) or a control movement intervention (CMI, n = 24) focusing on individual motor coordination (2 participants from each group declined before baseline testing). The primary outcome measure was the objective Multifaceted Empathy Test targeting emotion inference and empathic feelings. Secondary outcomes were scores on the self-rated Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The well-established automatic imitation task and synchronization finger-tapping task were used to quantify effects on imitation and synchronization functions, complemented by the more naturalistic Assessment of Spontaneous Interaction in Movement. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that from baseline to 3 months, patients treated with SI-DMI showed a significantly larger improvement in emotion inference (d = 0.58), but not empathic feelings, than those treated with CMI (d = -0.04). On the close generalization level, SI-DMI increased synchronization skills and imitation tendencies, as well as whole-body imitation/synchronization and movement reciprocity/dialogue, compared to CMI. SI-DMI can be successful in promoting emotion inference in adults with ASD and warrants further investigation. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  11. Modeling the Scheduling of Eye Movements and Manual Responses in Performing a Sequence of Discrete Tasks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wu, Shu-Chieh; Remington, Roger W.; Lewis, Richard

    2006-01-01

    Common tasks in daily life are often accomplished by a sequence of actions that interleave information acquisition through the eyes and action execution by the hands. How are eye movements coordinated with the release of manual responses and how may their coordination be represented at the level of component mental operations? We have previously presented data from a typing-like task requiring separate choice responses to a series of five stimuli. We found a consistent pattern of results in both motor and ocular timing, and hypothesized possible relationships among underlying components. Here we report a model of that task, which demonstrates how the observed timing of eye movements to successive stimuli could be accounted for by assuming systems: an open-loop system generating saccades at a periodic rate, and a closed-loop system commanding a saccade based on stimulus processing. We relate this model to models of reading and discuss the motivation for dual control.

  12. Antidepressant treatment outcomes of psychogenic movement disorder.

    PubMed

    Voon, Valerie; Lang, Anthony E

    2005-12-01

    Psychogenic movement disorder (PMD) is a subtype of conversion disorder. We describe the outcomes of a series of PMD patients following antidepressant treatment. Twenty-three outpatients with chronic PMD, diagnosed using Fahn and Williams' criteria, underwent psychiatric assessment. The patients were referred for assessment and management from January 2003 to July 2004. Fifteen agreed to be treated with antidepressants. Patients received citalopram or paroxetine; those who did not respond after 4 weeks of taking an optimal dose were switched to venlafaxine. Concurrently, 3 had supportive psychotherapy, and 1 had family intervention. Assessments included the DSM-IV-based Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview and scales measuring depression, anxiety, and motor and global severity. Eighteen patients (78%) had at least 1 Axis I diagnosis in addition to the somatoform diagnosis, and 3 (13%) had somatization disorder. Five (22%) had previous psychiatric contact. Nine (39%) had previously been treated with antidepressants, but only 4 (17%) had adequate trials. No significant differences existed in patient characteristics between treated and untreated groups. Among treated patients, Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale scores improved from baseline (p < .01). Two treated subgroups were identified: 10 patients (67%) had primary conversion disorder, of whom 8 had marked motor and global improvements with 7 complete remissions, and 5 (33%) had primary hypochondriasis, somatization disorder, or probable factitious disorder/malingering, of whom none improved. All of the patients with primary conversion disorder had a current or previous depressive or anxiety disorder compared with 40% (N = 2) of the patients with additional somatoform diagnoses. Our preliminary findings suggest that chronic PMD with primary conversion symptoms and with recent or current depression or anxiety may respond to antidepressants. Further well-designed studies, now under way, are required

  13. [Deep brain stimulation in movement disorders: evidence and therapy standards].

    PubMed

    Parpaley, Yaroslav; Skodda, Sabine

    2017-07-01

    The deep brain stimulation (DBS) in movement disorders is well established and in many aspects evidence-based procedure. The treatment indications are very heterogeneous and very specific in their course and therapy. The deep brain stimulation plays very important, but usually not the central role in this conditions. The success in the application of DBS is essentially associated with the correct, appropriate and timely indication of the therapy in the course of these diseases. Thanks to the good standardization of the DBS procedure and sufficient published data, the recommendations for indication, diagnosis and operative procedures can be generated. The following article attempts to summarize the most important decision-making criteria and current therapy standards in this fairly comprehensive subject and to present them in close proximity to practice. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  14. Conscious motor processing and movement self-consciousness: two dimensions of personality that influence laparoscopic training.

    PubMed

    Malhotra, Neha; Poolton, Jamie M; Wilson, Mark R; Fan, Joe K M; Masters, Rich S W

    2014-01-01

    Identifying personality factors that account for individual differences in surgical training and performance has practical implications for surgical education. Movement-specific reinvestment is a potentially relevant personality factor that has a moderating effect on laparoscopic performance under time pressure. Movement-specific reinvestment has 2 dimensions, which represent an individual's propensity to consciously control movements (conscious motor processing) or to consciously monitor their 'style' of movement (movement self-consciousness). This study aimed at investigating the moderating effects of the 2 dimensions of movement-specific reinvestment in the learning and updating (cross-handed technique) of laparoscopic skills. Medical students completed the Movement-Specific Reinvestment Scale, a psychometric assessment tool that evaluates the conscious motor processing and movement self-consciousness dimensions of movement-specific reinvestment. They were then trained to a criterion level of proficiency on a fundamental laparoscopic skills task and were tested on a novel cross-handed technique. Completion times were recorded for early-learning, late-learning, and cross-handed trials. Propensity for movement self-consciousness but not conscious motor processing was a significant predictor of task completion times both early (p = 0.036) and late (p = 0.002) in learning, but completion times during the cross-handed trials were predicted by the propensity for conscious motor processing (p = 0.04) rather than movement self-consciousness (p = 0.21). Higher propensity for movement self-consciousness is associated with slower performance times on novel and well-practiced laparoscopic tasks. For complex surgical techniques, however, conscious motor processing plays a more influential role in performance than movement self-consciousness. The findings imply that these 2 dimensions of movement-specific reinvestment have a differential influence in the learning and updating

  15. Amplitude and timing of somatosensory cortex activity in Task Specific Focal Hand Dystonia

    PubMed Central

    Dolberg, Rebecca; Hinkley, Leighton B. N.; Honma, Susanne; Zhu, Zhao; Findlay, Anne M.; Byl, Nancy N.; Nagarjan, Srikantan S.

    2011-01-01

    Objective Task-specific focal hand dystonia (tspFHD) is a movement disorder diagnosed in individuals performing repetitive hand behaviors. The extent to which processing anomalies in primary sensory cortex extend to other regions or across the two hemispheres is presently unclear. Methods In response to low/high rate and novel tactile stimuli on the affected and unaffected hands, magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to elaborate activity timing and amplitude in the primary somatosensory (S1) and secondary somatosensory/parietal ventral (S2/PV) cortices. MEG and clinical performance measures were collected from thirteen patients and matched controls. Results Compared to controls, subjects with tspFHD had increased response amplitude in S2/PV bilaterally in response to high rate and novel stimuli. Subjects with tspFHD also showed increased response latency (low rate, novel) of the affected digits in contralateral S1. For high rate, subjects with tspFHD showed increased response latency in ipsilateral S1 and S2/PV bilaterally. Activation differences correlated with functional sensory deficits (predicting a latency shift in S1), motor speed and muscle strength. Conclusions There are objective differences in the amplitude and timing of activity for both hands across contralateral and ipsilateral somatosensory cortex in patients with tspFHD. Significance Knowledge of cortical processing abnormalities across S1 and S2/PV in dystonia should be applied towards the development of learning based sensorimotor interventions. PMID:21802357

  16. Amplitude and timing of somatosensory cortex activity in task-specific focal hand dystonia.

    PubMed

    Dolberg, Rebecca; Hinkley, Leighton B N; Honma, Susanne; Zhu, Zhao; Findlay, Anne M; Byl, Nancy N; Nagarajan, Srikantan S

    2011-12-01

    Task-specific focal hand dystonia (tspFHD) is a movement disorder diagnosed in individuals performing repetitive hand behaviors. The extent to which processing anomalies in primary sensory cortex extend to other regions or across the two hemispheres is presently unclear. In response to low/high rate and novel tactile stimuli on the affected and unaffected hands, magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to elaborate activity timing and amplitude in the primary somatosensory (S1) and secondary somatosensory/parietal ventral (S2/PV) cortices. MEG and clinical performance measures were collected from 13 patients and matched controls. Compared to controls, subjects with tspFHD had increased response amplitude in S2/PV bilaterally in response to high rate and novel stimuli. Subjects with tspFHD also showed increased response latency (low rate, novel) of the affected digits in contralateral S1. For high rate, subjects with tspFHD showed increased response latency in ipsilateral S1 and S2/PV bilaterally. Activation differences correlated with functional sensory deficits (predicting a latency shift in S1), motor speed and muscle strength. There are objective differences in the amplitude and timing of activity for both hands across contralateral and ipsilateral somatosensory cortex in patients with tspFHD. Knowledge of cortical processing abnormalities across S1 and S2/PV in dystonia should be applied towards the development of learning-based sensorimotor interventions. Copyright © 2011 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Complex movement disorders at disease onset in childhood narcolepsy with cataplexy

    PubMed Central

    Pizza, Fabio; Palaia, Vincenzo; Franceschini, Christian; Poli, Francesca; Moghadam, Keivan K.; Cortelli, Pietro; Nobili, Lino; Bruni, Oliviero; Dauvilliers, Yves; Lin, Ling; Edwards, Mark J.; Mignot, Emmanuel; Bhatia, Kailash P.

    2011-01-01

    Narcolepsy with cataplexy is characterized by daytime sleepiness, cataplexy (sudden loss of bilateral muscle tone triggered by emotions), sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations and disturbed nocturnal sleep. Narcolepsy with cataplexy is most often associated with human leucocyte antigen-DQB1*0602 and is caused by the loss of hypocretin-producing neurons in the hypothalamus of likely autoimmune aetiology. Noting that children with narcolepsy often display complex abnormal motor behaviours close to disease onset that do not meet the classical definition of cataplexy, we systematically analysed motor features in 39 children with narcolepsy with cataplexy in comparison with 25 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. We found that patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy displayed a complex array of ‘negative’ (hypotonia) and ‘active’ (ranging from perioral movements to dyskinetic–dystonic movements or stereotypies) motor disturbances. ‘Active’ and ‘negative’ motor scores correlated positively with the presence of hypotonic features at neurological examination and negatively with disease duration, whereas ‘negative’ motor scores also correlated negatively with age at disease onset. These observations suggest that paediatric narcolepsy with cataplexy often co-occurs with a complex movement disorder at disease onset, a phenomenon that may vanish later in the course of the disease. Further studies are warranted to assess clinical course and whether the associated movement disorder is also caused by hypocretin deficiency or by additional neurochemical abnormalities. PMID:21930661

  18. Upper limb performance and the structuring of joint movement in teenagers with cerebral palsy: the reciprocal role of task demands and action capabilities.

    PubMed

    Figueiredo, Priscilla Rezende Pereira; Silva, Paula Lanna; Avelar, Bruna Silva; da Fonseca, Sérgio Teixeira; Bootsma, Reinoud J; Mancini, Marisa Cotta

    2015-04-01

    Individuals with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) demonstrate reduced performance in upper limb tasks compared to typically developing (TD) peers. We examined whether task conditions modify differences between teenagers with and without CP during a reciprocal aiming task. Twenty teenagers (nine CP and 11 TD) moved a pointer between two targets as fast as possible without missing a target. Task conditions were manipulated by changing the targets' size, by modifying the inertial properties of the pointer and by varying the upper limb used to perform the task (preferred/non-affected and non-preferred/affected upper limbs). While compared to TD peers, CP teenagers exhibited lower performance (longer movement times). Such differences were attenuated when the task was performed with the preferred upper limb and when accuracy requirements were less stringent. CP teenagers were not differentially affected by the pointer inertia manipulation. Task conditions not only affected performance but also joint kinematics. CP teenagers revealed less movement at the elbow and more movement at the shoulder when performing the task with their less skilled upper limb. However, both CP and TD teenagers demonstrated a larger contribution of trunk movement when facing more challenging task conditions. The overall pattern of results indicated that the joint kinematics employed by individuals with unilateral CP constituted adaptive responses to task requirements. Thus, the explanation of the effects of unilateral CP on upper limb behavior needs to go beyond a context-indifferent manifestation of the brain injury to include the interaction between task demands and action capabilities.

  19. Pre-movement planning processes in people with congenital mirror movements.

    PubMed

    Franz, E A; Fu, Y

    2017-10-01

    Pre-movement processes were investigated in people with Congenital mirrormovement (CMM), a rare disorder in which bilateral movement (mirroring) occurs in the upper distal extremities (primarily the hands and fingers) during intended unilateral movements. Abnormal density of ipsilateral corticospinal projections is an established hallmark of CMM. This study tested whether the Lateralised Readiness Potential (LRP), which reflects movement planning and readiness, is also abnormal in people with CMM. Twenty-eight neurologically-normal controls and 8 people with CMM were tested on a unimanual Go/No-go task while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded to assess the LRP. No significant group differences were found in reaction time (RT). However, significantly smaller LRP amplitudes were found, on average, in the CMM group compared to Controls at central-motor (C3,C4) sites in stimulus-locked and response-locked epochs; similar group differences were also found at further frontal sites (F3,F4) during response-locked epochs. Abnormal brain activity in pre-movement processes associated with response planning and preparation is present in people with CMM. Aberrant bilateral activity during pre-movement processes is clearly implicated; whether part of the etiology of CMM, or as a mechanism of neuro-compensation, is not yet known. Copyright © 2017 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Neural Substrates of Visual Spatial Coding and Visual Feedback Control for Hand Movements in Allocentric and Target-Directed Tasks

    PubMed Central

    Thaler, Lore; Goodale, Melvyn A.

    2011-01-01

    Neuropsychological evidence suggests that different brain areas may be involved in movements that are directed at visual targets (e.g., pointing or reaching), and movements that are based on allocentric visual information (e.g., drawing or copying). Here we used fMRI to investigate the neural correlates of these two types of movements in healthy volunteers. Subjects (n = 14) performed right hand movements in either a target-directed task (moving a cursor to a target dot) or an allocentric task (moving a cursor to reproduce the distance and direction between two distal target dots) with or without visual feedback about their hand movement. Movements were monitored with an MR compatible touch panel. A whole brain analysis revealed that movements in allocentric conditions led to an increase in activity in the fundus of the left intra-parietal sulcus (IPS), in posterior IPS, in bilateral dorsal premotor cortex (PMd), and in the lateral occipital complex (LOC). Visual feedback in both target-directed and allocentric conditions led to an increase in activity in area MT+, superior parietal–occipital cortex (SPOC), and posterior IPS (all bilateral). In addition, we found that visual feedback affected brain activity differently in target-directed as compared to allocentric conditions, particularly in the pre-supplementary motor area, PMd, IPS, and parieto-occipital cortex. Our results, in combination with previous findings, suggest that the LOC is essential for allocentric visual coding and that SPOC is involved in visual feedback control. The differences in brain activity between target-directed and allocentric visual feedback conditions may be related to behavioral differences in visual feedback control. Our results advance the understanding of the visual coordinate frame used by the LOC. In addition, because of the nature of the allocentric task, our results have relevance for the understanding of neural substrates of magnitude estimation and vector coding of

  1. Nonspecificity and theory of mind: new evidence from a nonverbal false-sign task and children with autism spectrum disorders.

    PubMed

    Iao, Lai-Sang; Leekam, Susan R

    2014-06-01

    Understanding of false belief has long been considered to be a crucial aspect of "theory of mind" that can be explained by a domain-specific mechanism. We argue against this claim using new evidence from a nonverbal false representation task (false-sign task) with typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Experiments 1 and 2 showed that typically developing children (mean age=62.67months) were equivalent in their performance across nonverbal and verbal forms of both the false-belief and false-sign tasks. Results for these two misrepresentation tasks differed from the results of an outdated representation task ("false"-photograph task). Experiment 3 showed that children with ASD had difficulties with the false representation tasks, and this could not be explained by executive functioning or language impairments. These findings support the view that children with ASD might not have a specific theory-of-mind deficit. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Deep brain stimulation for movement disorders. Considerations on 276 consecutive patients.

    PubMed

    Franzini, Angelo; Cordella, Roberto; Messina, Giuseppe; Marras, Carlo Efisio; Romito, Luigi Michele; Carella, Francesco; Albanese, Alberto; Rizzi, Michele; Nardocci, Nardo; Zorzi, Giovanna; Zekay, Edvin; Broggi, Giovanni

    2011-10-01

    The links between Stn DBS and advanced Parkinson disease, and between GPi DBS and dystonia are nearly universally accepted by the neurologists and neurosurgeons. Nevertheless, in some conditions, targets such as the ventral thalamus and the Zona Incerta may be considered to optimize the results and avoid the side effects. Positive and negative aspects of current DBS treatments justify the research of new targets, new stimulation programs and new hardware. Since 1993, at the Istituto Nazionale Neurologico "Carlo Besta" in Milan, 580 deep brain electrodes were implanted in 332 patients. 276 patients were affected by movement disorders. The DBS targets included Stn, GPi, Voa, Vop, Vim, CM-pf, cZi, IC. The long-term follow-up is reported and related to the chosen target. DBS gave a new therapeutic option to patients affected by severe movement disorders, and in some cases resolved life-threatening pathological conditions that would otherwise result in the death of the patient, such as in status dystonicus, and post-stroke hemiballismus. Nevertheless, the potential occurrence of severe complications still limit a wider use of DBS. At today, the use of DBS in severe movement disorders is strongly positive even if further investigations and studies are needed to unveil potential new applications, and to refine the selection criteria for the actual indications and targets. The experience of different targets may be useful to guide and tailor the target choice to the individual clinical condition.

  3. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and the Schools. Task Force Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Virginia State Dept. of Education, Richmond.

    This report of a Virginia interdisciplinary task force on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the schools reviews what is known about this disorder and presents recommendations to the Virginia Department of Education and local school districts. Recommendations include the need to provide a systematic program of…

  4. Efficacy of ACL injury risk screening methods in identifying high-risk landing patterns during a sport-specific task.

    PubMed

    Fox, A S; Bonacci, J; McLean, S G; Saunders, N

    2017-05-01

    Screening methods sensitive to movement strategies that increase anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) loads are likely to be effective in identifying athletes at-risk of ACL injury. Current ACL injury risk screening methods are yet to be evaluated for their ability to identify athletes' who exhibit high-risk lower limb mechanics during sport-specific maneuvers associated with ACL injury occurrences. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of two ACL injury risk screening methods in identifying high-risk lower limb mechanics during a sport-specific landing task. Thirty-two female athletes were screened using the Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) and Tuck Jump Assessment. Participants' also completed a sport-specific landing task, during which three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic data were collected. One-dimensional statistical parametric mapping was used to examine the relationships between screening method scores, and the three-dimensional hip and knee joint rotation and moment data from the sport-specific landing. Higher LESS scores were associated with reduced knee flexion from 30 to 57 ms after initial contact (P = 0.003) during the sport-specific landing; however, no additional relationships were found. These findings suggest the LESS and Tuck Jump Assessment may have minimal applicability in identifying athletes' who exhibit high-risk landing postures in the sport-specific task examined. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Impulse control disorder and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder in Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Bayard, Sophie; Dauvilliers, Yves; Yu, Huan; Croisier-Langenier, Muriel; Rossignol, Alexia; Charif, Mahmoud; Geny, Christian; Carlander, Bertrand; Cochen De Cock, Valérie

    2014-12-01

    The relationship between ICD and RBD is still not yet understood and the results from the current literature are contradictory in PD. We aimed to explore the association between rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and impulse control disorder in Parkinson's disease. Ninety-eight non-demented patients with Parkinson's disease underwent one night of video-polysomnography recording. The diagnosis of RBD was established according to clinical and polysomnographic criteria. Impulse control disorders were determined by a gold standard, semi-structured diagnostic interview. Half of the patients (n = 49) reported clinical history of RBD while polysomnographic diagnosis of RBD was confirmed in 31.6% of the patients (n = 31). At least one impulse control disorder was identified in 21.4% of patients, 22.6% with RBD and 20.9% without. Logistic regression controlling for potential confounders indicated that both clinical RBD (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.07-1.48, P = 0.15) and polysomnographic confirmed RBD diagnoses (OR = 0.1.28, 95% CI = 0.31-5.33, P = 0.34) were not associated with impulse control disorder. In Parkinson's disease, REM Sleep Behavior Disorder is not associated with impulse control disorder. The results of our study do not support the notion that PSG-confirmed RBD and ICD share a common pathophysiology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Idiom Comprehension Deficits in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Korean Autism Social Language Task

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Seul Bee; Song, Seung Ha; Ham, Ju Hyun; Song, Dong Ho

    2015-01-01

    Purpose High-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves pragmatic impairment of language skills. Among numerous tasks for assessing pragmatic linguistic skills, idioms are important to evaluating high-functioning ASD. Nevertheless, no assessment tool has been developed with specific consideration of Korean culture. Therefore, we designed the Korean Autism Social Language Task (KASLAT) to test idiom comprehension in ASD. The aim of the current study was to introduce this novel psychological tool and evaluate idiom comprehension deficits in high-functioning ASD. Materials and Methods The participants included 42 children, ages 6-11 years, who visited our child psychiatric clinic between April 2014 and May 2015. The ASD group comprised 16 children; the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group consisted of 16 children. An additional 10 normal control children who had not been diagnosed with either disorder participated in this study. Idiom comprehension ability was assessed in these three groups using the KASLAT. Results Both ASD and ADHD groups had significantly lower scores on the matched and mismatched tasks, compared to the normal control children (matched tasks mean score: ASD 11.56, ADHD 11.56, normal control 14.30; mismatched tasks mean score: ASD 6.50, ADHD 4.31, normal control 11.30). However, no significant differences were found in scores of KASLAT between the ADHD and ASD groups. Conclusion These findings suggest that children with ASD exhibit greater impairment in idiom comprehension, compared to normal control children. The KASLAT may be useful in evaluating idiom comprehension ability. PMID:26446644

  7. Comparison of six electromyography acquisition setups on hand movement classification tasks.

    PubMed

    Pizzolato, Stefano; Tagliapietra, Luca; Cognolato, Matteo; Reggiani, Monica; Müller, Henning; Atzori, Manfredo

    2017-01-01

    Hand prostheses controlled by surface electromyography are promising due to the non-invasive approach and the control capabilities offered by machine learning. Nevertheless, dexterous prostheses are still scarcely spread due to control difficulties, low robustness and often prohibitive costs. Several sEMG acquisition setups are now available, ranging in terms of costs between a few hundred and several thousand dollars. The objective of this paper is the relative comparison of six acquisition setups on an identical hand movement classification task, in order to help the researchers to choose the proper acquisition setup for their requirements. The acquisition setups are based on four different sEMG electrodes (including Otto Bock, Delsys Trigno, Cometa Wave + Dormo ECG and two Thalmic Myo armbands) and they were used to record more than 50 hand movements from intact subjects with a standardized acquisition protocol. The relative performance of the six sEMG acquisition setups is compared on 41 identical hand movements with a standardized feature extraction and data analysis pipeline aimed at performing hand movement classification. Comparable classification results are obtained with three acquisition setups including the Delsys Trigno, the Cometa Wave and the affordable setup composed of two Myo armbands. The results suggest that practical sEMG tests can be performed even when costs are relevant (e.g. in small laboratories, developing countries or use by children). All the presented datasets can be used for offline tests and their quality can easily be compared as the data sets are publicly available.

  8. Attentional biases in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD): Eye-tracking using the emotional Stroop task.

    PubMed

    Toh, Wei Lin; Castle, David J; Rossell, Susan L

    2017-04-01

    Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is characterised by repetitive behaviours and/or mental acts occurring in response to preoccupations with perceived defects or flaws in physical appearance. This study aimed to examine attentional biases in BDD via the emotional Stroop task with two modifications: i) incorporating an eye-tracking paradigm, and ii) employing an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) control group. Twenty-one BDD, 19 OCD and 21 HC participants, who were age-, sex-, and IQ-matched, were included. A card version of the emotional Stroop task was employed based on seven 10-word lists: (i) BDD-positive, (ii) BDD-negative, (iii) OCD-checking, (iv) OCD-washing, (v) general positive, (vi) general threat, and (vii) neutral (as baseline). Participants were asked to read aloud words and word colours consecutively, thereby yielding accuracy and latency scores. Eye-tracking parameters were also measured. Participants with BDD exhibited significant Stroop interference for BDD-negative words relative to HC participants, as shown by extended colour-naming latencies. In contrast, the OCD group did not exhibit Stroop interference for OCD-related nor general threat words. Only mild eye-tracking anomalies were uncovered in clinical groups. Inspection of individual scanning styles and fixation heat maps however revealed that viewing strategies adopted by clinical groups were generally disorganised, with avoidance of certain disorder-relevant words and considerable visual attention devoted to non-salient card regions. The operation of attentional biases to negative disorder-specific words was corroborated in BDD. Future replication studies using other paradigms are vital, given potential ambiguities inherent in emotional Stroop task interpretation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. High post-movement parietal low-beta power during rhythmic tapping facilitates performance in a stop task.

    PubMed

    Fischer, Petra; Tan, Huiling; Pogosyan, Alek; Brown, Peter

    2016-09-01

    Voluntary movements are followed by a post-movement electroencephalography (EEG) beta rebound, which increases with practice and confidence in a task. We hypothesized that greater beta modulation reflects less load on cognitive resources and may thus be associated with faster reactions to new stimuli. EEG was recorded in 17 healthy subjects during rhythmically paced index finger tapping. In a STOP condition, participants had to interrupt the upcoming tap in response to an auditory cue, which was timed such that stopping was successful only in ~ 50% of all trials. In a second condition, participants carried on tapping twice after the stop signal (CONTINUE condition). Thus the conditions were distinct in whether abrupt stopping was required as a second task. Modulation of 12-20 Hz power over motor and parietal areas developed with time on each trial and more so in the CONTINUE condition. Reduced modulation in the STOP condition went along with reduced negative mean asynchronies suggesting less confident anticipation of the timing of the next tap. Yet participants were more likely to stop when beta modulation prior to the stop cue was more pronounced. In the STOP condition, expectancy of the stop signal may have increased cognitive load during movement execution given that the task might have to be stopped abruptly. However, within this condition, stopping ability was increased if the preceding tap was followed by a relatively larger beta increase. Significant, albeit weak, correlations confirmed that increased post-movement beta power was associated with faster reactions to new stimuli, consistent with reduced cognitive load. © 2016 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience published by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: ADHD Task Force Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michigan State Dept. of Education, Lansing. Special Education Services.

    A Michigan task force examined existing and needed services for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), to assist school districts in developing services and to create a systematic plan for statewide information dissemination regarding referral, assessment, identification, intervention strategies, and legal mandates.…

  11. Go When You Know: Chimpanzees’ Confidence Movements Reflect Their Responses in a Computerized Memory Task

    PubMed Central

    Beran, Michael J.; Perdue, Bonnie M.; Futch, Sara E.; Smith, J. David; Evans, Theodore A.; Parrish, Audrey E.

    2015-01-01

    Three chimpanzees performed a computerized memory task in which auditory feedback about the accuracy of each response was delayed. The delivery of food rewards for correct responses was also delayed and occurred in a separate location from the response. Crucially, if the chimpanzees did not move to the reward-delivery site before food was dispensed, the reward was lost and could not be recovered. Chimpanzees were significantly more likely to move to the dispenser on trials they had completed correctly than on those they had completed incorrectly, and these movements occurred before any external feedback about the outcome of their responses. Thus, chimpanzees moved (or not) on the basis of their confidence in their responses, and these confidence movements aligned closely with objective task performance. These untrained, spontaneous confidence judgments demonstrated that chimpanzees monitored their own states of knowing and not knowing and adjusted their behavior accordingly. PMID:26057831

  12. Disorder-specific neuroanatomical correlates of attentional bias in obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and hypochondriasis.

    PubMed

    van den Heuvel, Odile A; Veltman, Dick J; Groenewegen, Henk J; Witter, Menno P; Merkelbach, Jille; Cath, Danielle C; van Balkom, Anton J L M; van Oppen, Patricia; van Dyck, Richard

    2005-08-01

    Attentional bias to disease-relevant emotional cues is considered to be pathogenetically relevant in anxiety disorders. To investigate functional neural correlates and disease specificity of attentional bias across different anxiety disorders. A cognitive and emotional Stroop task, consisting of congruent and incongruent color words, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related and panic-related negative words, and neutral words, was used in 3 patient groups and a control group during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Academic outpatient department for anxiety disorders. Medication-free patients with OCD (n = 16), panic disorder (PD) (n = 15), and hypochondriasis (n = 13) and 19 controls. Voxel-wise analyses of cerebral blood flow changes for contrasts of interest (incongruent vs congruent color words, OCD-related vs neutral words, and panic-related vs neutral words) within and between groups. During incongruent vs congruent color naming, all patient groups recruited additional posterior brain regions relative to controls, but performance was impaired only in OCD. In OCD, color naming OCD-related, but not PD-related, words correlated with increased activation of frontal-striatal and temporal regions, although performance was unimpaired. In contrast, in PD, increased frontal-striatal involvement was found during color naming both OCD-related and panic-related words. In PD, color naming panic-related words was slowed and correlated with increased activation of the right amygdala and hippocampus. Patients with hypochondriasis showed a similar activation pattern to patients with PD. Our results support the hypothesis of increased distractibility for irrelevant information in patients with OCD, PD, and hypochondriasis associated with frontal-striatal and limbic involvement compared with controls. Although patients with OCD did not display an attentional bias in behavior relative to controls, there was a clear, specific neural response during color naming OCD

  13. Recognizing Biological Motion and Emotions from Point-Light Displays in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Nackaerts, Evelien; Wagemans, Johan; Helsen, Werner; Swinnen, Stephan P.; Wenderoth, Nicole; Alaerts, Kaat

    2012-01-01

    One of the main characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are problems with social interaction and communication. Here, we explored ASD-related alterations in ‘reading’ body language of other humans. Accuracy and reaction times were assessed from two observational tasks involving the recognition of ‘biological motion’ and ‘emotions’ from point-light displays (PLDs). Eye movements were recorded during the completion of the tests. Results indicated that typically developed-participants were more accurate than ASD-subjects in recognizing biological motion or emotions from PLDs. No accuracy differences were revealed on two control-tasks (involving the indication of color-changes in the moving point-lights). Group differences in reaction times existed on all tasks, but effect sizes were higher for the biological and emotion recognition tasks. Biological motion recognition abilities were related to a person’s ability to recognize emotions from PLDs. However, ASD-related atypicalities in emotion recognition could not entirely be attributed to more basic deficits in biological motion recognition, suggesting an additional ASD-specific deficit in recognizing the emotional dimension of the point light displays. Eye movements were assessed during the completion of tasks and results indicated that ASD-participants generally produced more saccades and shorter fixation-durations compared to the control-group. However, especially for emotion recognition, these altered eye movements were associated with reductions in task-performance. PMID:22970227

  14. Recognizing biological motion and emotions from point-light displays in autism spectrum disorders.

    PubMed

    Nackaerts, Evelien; Wagemans, Johan; Helsen, Werner; Swinnen, Stephan P; Wenderoth, Nicole; Alaerts, Kaat

    2012-01-01

    One of the main characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are problems with social interaction and communication. Here, we explored ASD-related alterations in 'reading' body language of other humans. Accuracy and reaction times were assessed from two observational tasks involving the recognition of 'biological motion' and 'emotions' from point-light displays (PLDs). Eye movements were recorded during the completion of the tests. Results indicated that typically developed-participants were more accurate than ASD-subjects in recognizing biological motion or emotions from PLDs. No accuracy differences were revealed on two control-tasks (involving the indication of color-changes in the moving point-lights). Group differences in reaction times existed on all tasks, but effect sizes were higher for the biological and emotion recognition tasks. Biological motion recognition abilities were related to a person's ability to recognize emotions from PLDs. However, ASD-related atypicalities in emotion recognition could not entirely be attributed to more basic deficits in biological motion recognition, suggesting an additional ASD-specific deficit in recognizing the emotional dimension of the point light displays. Eye movements were assessed during the completion of tasks and results indicated that ASD-participants generally produced more saccades and shorter fixation-durations compared to the control-group. However, especially for emotion recognition, these altered eye movements were associated with reductions in task-performance.

  15. Task-specific reorganization of the auditory cortex in deaf humans

    PubMed Central

    Bola, Łukasz; Zimmermann, Maria; Mostowski, Piotr; Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Marchewka, Artur; Rutkowski, Paweł; Szwed, Marcin

    2017-01-01

    The principles that guide large-scale cortical reorganization remain unclear. In the blind, several visual regions preserve their task specificity; ventral visual areas, for example, become engaged in auditory and tactile object-recognition tasks. It remains open whether task-specific reorganization is unique to the visual cortex or, alternatively, whether this kind of plasticity is a general principle applying to other cortical areas. Auditory areas can become recruited for visual and tactile input in the deaf. Although nonhuman data suggest that this reorganization might be task specific, human evidence has been lacking. Here we enrolled 15 deaf and 15 hearing adults into an functional MRI experiment during which they discriminated between temporally complex sequences of stimuli (rhythms). Both deaf and hearing subjects performed the task visually, in the central visual field. In addition, hearing subjects performed the same task in the auditory modality. We found that the visual task robustly activated the auditory cortex in deaf subjects, peaking in the posterior–lateral part of high-level auditory areas. This activation pattern was strikingly similar to the pattern found in hearing subjects performing the auditory version of the task. Although performing the visual task in deaf subjects induced an increase in functional connectivity between the auditory cortex and the dorsal visual cortex, no such effect was found in hearing subjects. We conclude that in deaf humans the high-level auditory cortex switches its input modality from sound to vision but preserves its task-specific activation pattern independent of input modality. Task-specific reorganization thus might be a general principle that guides cortical plasticity in the brain. PMID:28069964

  16. Task-specific reorganization of the auditory cortex in deaf humans.

    PubMed

    Bola, Łukasz; Zimmermann, Maria; Mostowski, Piotr; Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Marchewka, Artur; Rutkowski, Paweł; Szwed, Marcin

    2017-01-24

    The principles that guide large-scale cortical reorganization remain unclear. In the blind, several visual regions preserve their task specificity; ventral visual areas, for example, become engaged in auditory and tactile object-recognition tasks. It remains open whether task-specific reorganization is unique to the visual cortex or, alternatively, whether this kind of plasticity is a general principle applying to other cortical areas. Auditory areas can become recruited for visual and tactile input in the deaf. Although nonhuman data suggest that this reorganization might be task specific, human evidence has been lacking. Here we enrolled 15 deaf and 15 hearing adults into an functional MRI experiment during which they discriminated between temporally complex sequences of stimuli (rhythms). Both deaf and hearing subjects performed the task visually, in the central visual field. In addition, hearing subjects performed the same task in the auditory modality. We found that the visual task robustly activated the auditory cortex in deaf subjects, peaking in the posterior-lateral part of high-level auditory areas. This activation pattern was strikingly similar to the pattern found in hearing subjects performing the auditory version of the task. Although performing the visual task in deaf subjects induced an increase in functional connectivity between the auditory cortex and the dorsal visual cortex, no such effect was found in hearing subjects. We conclude that in deaf humans the high-level auditory cortex switches its input modality from sound to vision but preserves its task-specific activation pattern independent of input modality. Task-specific reorganization thus might be a general principle that guides cortical plasticity in the brain.

  17. [Motor disorders in neurodevelopmental disorders. Tics and stereotypies].

    PubMed

    Eirís-Puñal, Jesús

    2014-02-24

    Tics are repetitive, sharp, rapid, non-rhythmic movements or utterances that are the result of sudden, abrupt and involuntary muscular contractions. Stereotypies are repetitive, apparently impulsive, rhythmic, purposeless movements that follow an individual repertoire that is specific to each individual and that occur under a variable time pattern, which may be either transient or persistent. Both are included in the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), among the neurodevelopmental disorders, and together with coordination development disorder go to make up the group of motor disorders. For tics, the categories of 'Tourette's disorder', 'chronic motor or vocal tic disorder' and 'unspecified tic disorder' have been maintained, whereas the category 'transient tics' has disappeared and 'provisional tic disorder' and 'other specified tic disorders' have been incorporated. Within stereotypic movement disorder, the DSM-5 replaces 'non-functional' by 'apparently purposeless'; the thresholds of the need for medical care are withdrawn and replaced with the manual's standard involvement criterion; mental retardation is no longer mentioned and emphasis is placed on the severity of the stereotypic movement; and a criterion concerning the onset of symptoms and specifiers of the existence or not of self-injurious behaviours have been added, together with the association with genetic or general medical diseases or extrinsic factors. Moreover, a categorisation depending on severity has also been included.

  18. Structure-Specific Movement Patterns in Patients With Chronic Low Back Dysfunction Using Lumbar Combined Movement Examination.

    PubMed

    Monie, Aubrey P; Price, Roger I; Lind, Christopher R P; Singer, Kevin P

    2017-06-01

    A test-retest cohort study was conducted to assess the use of a novel computer-aided, combined movement examination (CME) to measure change in low back movement after pain management intervention in 17 cases of lumbar spondylosis. Additionally we desired to use a CME normal reference range (NRR) to compare and contrast movement patterns identified from 3 specific structural pathologic conditions: intervertebral disc, facet joint, and nerve root compression. Computer-aided CME was used before and after intervention, in a cohort study design, to record lumbar range of movement along with pain, disability, and health self-report questionnaires in 17 participants who received image-guided facet, epidural, and/or rhizotomy intervention. In the majority of cases, CME was reassessed after injection together with 2 serial self-reports after an average of 2 and 14 weeks. A minimal clinically important difference of 30% was used to interpret meaningful change in self-reports. A CME NRR (n = 159) was used for comparison with the 17 cases. Post hoc observation included subgrouping cases into 3 discrete pathologic conditions, intervertebral disc, facet dysfunction, and nerve root compression, in order to report intergroup differences in CME movement. Seven of the 17 participants stated that a "combined" movement was their most painful CME direction. Self-report outcome data indicated that 4 participants experienced significant improvement in health survey, 5 improved by ≥30% on low back function, and 8 reported that low back pain was more bothersome than stiffness, 6 of whom achieved the minimal clinically important difference for self-reported pain. Subgrouping of cases into structure-specific groups provided insight to different CME movement patterns. The use of CME assists in identifying atypical lumbar movement relative to an age and sex NRR. Data from this study, exemplified by representative case studies, provide preliminary evidence for distinct intervertebral disc

  19. Fixing the Mirrors: A Feasibility Study of the Effects of Dance Movement Therapy on Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koch, Sabine C.; Mehl, Laura; Sobanski, Esther; Sieber, Maik; Fuchs, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    From the 1970s on, case studies reported the effectiveness of therapeutic mirroring in movement with children with autism spectrum disorder. In this feasibility study, we tested a dance movement therapy intervention based on mirroring in movement in a population of 31 young adults with autism spectrum disorder (mainly high-functioning and…

  20. Sensori-Motor Learning with Movement Sonification: Perspectives from Recent Interdisciplinary Studies.

    PubMed

    Bevilacqua, Frédéric; Boyer, Eric O; Françoise, Jules; Houix, Olivier; Susini, Patrick; Roby-Brami, Agnès; Hanneton, Sylvain

    2016-01-01

    This article reports on an interdisciplinary research project on movement sonification for sensori-motor learning. First, we describe different research fields which have contributed to movement sonification, from music technology including gesture-controlled sound synthesis, sonic interaction design, to research on sensori-motor learning with auditory-feedback. In particular, we propose to distinguish between sound-oriented tasks and movement-oriented tasks in experiments involving interactive sound feedback. We describe several research questions and recently published results on movement control, learning and perception. In particular, we studied the effect of the auditory feedback on movements considering several cases: from experiments on pointing and visuo-motor tracking to more complex tasks where interactive sound feedback can guide movements, or cases of sensory substitution where the auditory feedback can inform on object shapes. We also developed specific methodologies and technologies for designing the sonic feedback and movement sonification. We conclude with a discussion on key future research challenges in sensori-motor learning with movement sonification. We also point out toward promising applications such as rehabilitation, sport training or product design.

  1. Overlapping and disease specific trait, response, and reflection impulsivity in adolescents with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

    PubMed

    Jepsen, J R M; Rydkjaer, J; Fagerlund, B; Pagsberg, A K; Jespersen, R Av F; Glenthøj, B Y; Oranje, B

    2018-03-01

    Schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are developmental disorders with shared clinical characteristics such as cognitive impairments and impulsivity. Impulsivity is a core feature of ADHD and an important factor in aggression, violence, and substance use in schizophrenia. Based on the hypothesis that schizophrenia and ADHD represent a continuum of neurodevelopmental impairments, the aim was to identify overlapping and disease specific forms of impulsivity. Adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age were assessed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-aged Children - Present and Lifetime Version. Subjects with early-onset, first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders (EOS) (N = 29) or ADHD (N = 29) and healthy controls (N = 45) were compared on two performance measures (Information Sampling Task, Stop Signal Task) and a subjective personality trait measure of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Version 11 (BIS-11)). Significantly increased reflection impulsivity was observed in ADHD but not in the EOS group. No significant response inhibition deficits (stop signal reaction time) were found in the two clinical groups. The ADHD and the EOS group showed significantly increased motor, attentional, and non-planning subtraits of impulsivity. Impaired pre-decisional information gathering appeared to be specific for ADHD while the information gathering was not significantly reduced in subjects with EOS. Neither the ADHD nor EOS group showed impaired response inhibition but shared increased personality subtraits of attentional, non-planning, and motor impulsivity although the latter was significantly more pronounced in ADHD. These increased subtraits of impulsivity may reflect diagnostic non-specific neurodevelopmental impairments in ADHD and EOS in adolescence.

  2. Potential of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

    PubMed

    McGuire, Tracy M; Lee, Christopher W; Drummond, Peter D

    2014-01-01

    Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continues to attract both empirical and clinical interest due to its complex symptom profile and the underlying processes involved. Recently, research attention has been focused on the types of memory processes involved in PTSD and hypothesized neurobiological processes. Complicating this exploration, and the treatment of PTSD, are underlying comorbid disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Treatment of PTSD has undergone further reviews with the introduction of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR has been empirically demonstrated to be as efficacious as other specific PTSD treatments, such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. There is emerging evidence that there are different processes underlying these two types of trauma treatment and some evidence that EMDR might have an efficiency advantage. Current research and understanding regarding the processes of EMDR and the future direction of EMDR is presented.

  3. Leg Movement Activity During Sleep in Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

    PubMed

    Garbazza, Corrado; Sauter, Cornelia; Paul, Juliane; Kollek, Jenny; Dujardin, Catharine; Hackethal, Sandra; Dorn, Hans; Peter, Anita; Hansen, Marie-Luise; Manconi, Mauro; Ferri, Raffaele; Danker-Hopfe, Heidi

    2018-01-01

    Objectives: To conduct a first detailed analysis of the pattern of leg movement (LM) activity during sleep in adult subjects with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) compared to healthy controls. Methods: Fifteen ADHD patients and 18 control subjects underwent an in-lab polysomnographic sleep study. The periodic character of LMs was evaluated with established markers of "periodicity," i.e., the periodicity index, intermovement intervals, and time distribution of LM during sleep, in addition to standard parameters such as the periodic leg movement during sleep index (PLMSI) and the periodic leg movement during sleep arousal index (PLMSAI). Subjective sleep and psychiatric symptoms were assessed using several, self-administered, screening questionnaires. Results: Objective sleep parameters from the baseline night did not significantly differ between ADHD and control subjects, except for a longer sleep latency (SL), a longer duration of the periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS) in REM sleep and a higher PLMSI also in REM sleep. Data from the sleep questionnaires showed perception of poor sleep quality in ADHD patients. Conclusions: Leg movements during sleep in ADHD adults are not significantly more frequent than in healthy controls and the nocturnal motor events do not show an increased periodicity in these patients. The non-periodic character of LMs in ADHD has already been shown in children and seems to differentiate ADHD from other pathophysiological related conditions like restless legs syndrome (RLS) or periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD). The reduced subjective sleep quality reported by ADHD adults contrasted with the normal objective polysomnographic parameters, which could suggest a sleep-state misperception in these individuals or more subtle sleep abnormalities not picked up by the traditional sleep staging.

  4. Isolating Discriminant Neural Activity in the Presence of Eye Movements and Concurrent Task Demands

    PubMed Central

    Touryan, Jon; Lawhern, Vernon J.; Connolly, Patrick M.; Bigdely-Shamlo, Nima; Ries, Anthony J.

    2017-01-01

    A growing number of studies use the combination of eye-tracking and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures to explore the neural processes that underlie visual perception. In these studies, fixation-related potentials (FRPs) are commonly used to quantify early and late stages of visual processing that follow the onset of each fixation. However, FRPs reflect a mixture of bottom-up (sensory-driven) and top-down (goal-directed) processes, in addition to eye movement artifacts and unrelated neural activity. At present there is little consensus on how to separate this evoked response into its constituent elements. In this study we sought to isolate the neural sources of target detection in the presence of eye movements and over a range of concurrent task demands. Here, participants were asked to identify visual targets (Ts) amongst a grid of distractor stimuli (Ls), while simultaneously performing an auditory N-back task. To identify the discriminant activity, we used independent components analysis (ICA) for the separation of EEG into neural and non-neural sources. We then further separated the neural sources, using a modified measure-projection approach, into six regions of interest (ROIs): occipital, fusiform, temporal, parietal, cingulate, and frontal cortices. Using activity from these ROIs, we identified target from non-target fixations in all participants at a level similar to other state-of-the-art classification techniques. Importantly, we isolated the time course and spectral features of this discriminant activity in each ROI. In addition, we were able to quantify the effect of cognitive load on both fixation-locked potential and classification performance across regions. Together, our results show the utility of a measure-projection approach for separating task-relevant neural activity into meaningful ROIs within more complex contexts that include eye movements. PMID:28736519

  5. Effects of local and widespread muscle fatigue on movement timing.

    PubMed

    Cowley, Jeffrey C; Dingwell, Jonathan B; Gates, Deanna H

    2014-12-01

    Repetitive movements can cause muscle fatigue, leading to motor reorganization, performance deficits, and/or possible injury. The effects of fatigue may depend on the type of fatigue task employed, however. The purpose of this study was to determine how local fatigue of a specific muscle group versus widespread fatigue of various muscle groups affected the control of movement timing. Twenty healthy subjects performed an upper extremity low-load work task similar to sawing for 5 continuous minutes both before and after completing a protocol that either fatigued all the muscles used in the task (widespread fatigue) or a protocol that selectively fatigued the primary muscles used to execute the pushing stroke of the sawing task (localized fatigue). Subjects were instructed to time their movements with a metronome. Timing error, movement distance, and speed were calculated for each movement. Data were then analyzed using a goal-equivalent manifold approach to quantify changes in goal-relevant and non-goal-relevant variability. We applied detrended fluctuation analysis to each time series to quantify changes in fluctuation dynamics that reflected changes in the control strategies used. After localized fatigue, subjects made shorter, slower movements and exerted greater control over non-goal-relevant variability. After widespread fatigue, subjects exerted less control over non-goal-relevant variability and did not change movement patterns. Thus, localized and widespread muscle fatigue affected movement differently. Local fatigue may reduce the available motor solutions and therefore cause greater movement reorganization than widespread muscle fatigue. Subjects altered their control strategies but continued to achieve the timing goal after both fatigue tasks.

  6. Slow oscillating transcranial direct current stimulation during non-rapid eye movement sleep improves behavioral inhibition in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

    PubMed Central

    Munz, Manuel T.; Prehn-Kristensen, Alexander; Thielking, Frederieke; Mölle, Matthias; Göder, Robert; Baving, Lioba

    2015-01-01

    Background: Behavioral inhibition, which is a later-developing executive function (EF) and anatomically located in prefrontal areas, is impaired in attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While optimal EFs have been shown to depend on efficient sleep in healthy subjects, the impact of sleep problems, frequently reported in ADHD, remains elusive. Findings of macroscopic sleep changes in ADHD are inconsistent, but there is emerging evidence for distinct microscopic changes with a focus on prefrontal cortical regions and non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) slow-wave sleep. Recently, slow oscillations (SO) during non-REM sleep were found to be less functional and, as such, may be involved in sleep-dependent memory impairments in ADHD. Objective:By augmenting slow-wave power through bilateral, slow oscillating transcranial direct current stimulation (so-tDCS, frequency = 0.75 Hz) during non-REM sleep, we aimed to improve daytime behavioral inhibition in children with ADHD. Methods: Fourteen boys (10–14 years) diagnosed with ADHD were included. In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design, patients received so-tDCS either in the first or in the second experimental sleep night. Inhibition control was assessed with a visuomotor go/no-go task. Intrinsic alertness was assessed with a simple stimulus response task. To control for visuomotor performance, motor memory was assessed with a finger sequence tapping task. Results: SO-power was enhanced during early non-REM sleep, accompanied by slowed reaction times and decreased standard deviations of reaction times, in the go/no-go task after so-tDCS. In contrast, intrinsic alertness, and motor memory performance were not improved by so-tDCS. Conclusion: Since behavioral inhibition but not intrinsic alertness or motor memory was improved by so-tDCS, our results suggest that lateral prefrontal slow oscillations during sleep might play a specific role for executive functioning in ADHD. PMID:26321911

  7. Slow oscillating transcranial direct current stimulation during non-rapid eye movement sleep improves behavioral inhibition in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

    PubMed

    Munz, Manuel T; Prehn-Kristensen, Alexander; Thielking, Frederieke; Mölle, Matthias; Göder, Robert; Baving, Lioba

    2015-01-01

    Behavioral inhibition, which is a later-developing executive function (EF) and anatomically located in prefrontal areas, is impaired in attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While optimal EFs have been shown to depend on efficient sleep in healthy subjects, the impact of sleep problems, frequently reported in ADHD, remains elusive. Findings of macroscopic sleep changes in ADHD are inconsistent, but there is emerging evidence for distinct microscopic changes with a focus on prefrontal cortical regions and non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) slow-wave sleep. Recently, slow oscillations (SO) during non-REM sleep were found to be less functional and, as such, may be involved in sleep-dependent memory impairments in ADHD. By augmenting slow-wave power through bilateral, slow oscillating transcranial direct current stimulation (so-tDCS, frequency = 0.75 Hz) during non-REM sleep, we aimed to improve daytime behavioral inhibition in children with ADHD. Fourteen boys (10-14 years) diagnosed with ADHD were included. In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design, patients received so-tDCS either in the first or in the second experimental sleep night. Inhibition control was assessed with a visuomotor go/no-go task. Intrinsic alertness was assessed with a simple stimulus response task. To control for visuomotor performance, motor memory was assessed with a finger sequence tapping task. SO-power was enhanced during early non-REM sleep, accompanied by slowed reaction times and decreased standard deviations of reaction times, in the go/no-go task after so-tDCS. In contrast, intrinsic alertness, and motor memory performance were not improved by so-tDCS. Since behavioral inhibition but not intrinsic alertness or motor memory was improved by so-tDCS, our results suggest that lateral prefrontal slow oscillations during sleep might play a specific role for executive functioning in ADHD.

  8. Impaired Attentional Control in Pedophiles in a Sexual Distractor Task.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Kirsten; Fromberger, Peter; von Herder, Jakob; Steinkrauss, Henrike; Nemetschek, Rebekka; Witzel, Joachim; Müller, Jürgen L

    2016-01-01

    Pedophilic disorder, a subtype of paraphilia, is defined as a recurrent sexual interest in prepubescent children, which is characterized by persistent thoughts, fantasies, urges, sexual arousal, or behavior. Besides a deviant sexual preference, sexual preoccupation was found to be a dynamic risk factor for reoffending. Thus, it is conceivable that sex offenders and especially sex offenders against children have difficulties to control their responses to sexual stimuli. In the current study pedophiles, forensic and non-forensic control subjects had to solve a cognitive task, while sexual distractors were presented simultaneously. This kind of task also requires control functions. Therefore, data were analyzed with respect to attentional control while comparing eye movements toward sexual distractors and toward the cognitive task. We were mainly interested in how early (fixation latency) and late (relative fixation time) attentional processes were allocated to both, the cognitive target stimuli and the sexual distractors. Pedophiles demonstrated significantly lower attentional control in the sexual distractor task than both control groups (non-pedophiles). They showed a shorter fixation latency and longer fixation time for sexual distractors than non-pedophiles. Furthermore, pedophiles demonstrated a longer fixation latency and shorter fixation time for cognitive target stimuli. For classification analyses, an attentional control index (ACI) was built, i.e., the difference between eye movements on cognitive target stimuli and sexual distractors. For the ACI of early attentional processes, i.e., fixation latency, a good classification between pedophiles and non-pedophiles was found. We assumed that the measured attentional control represents inhibitory executive functions, specifically interference control. Further studies should examine if low attentional control in pedophiles is due to low motivation to solve the task or rather to a lack of ability to control

  9. Impaired Attentional Control in Pedophiles in a Sexual Distractor Task

    PubMed Central

    Jordan, Kirsten; Fromberger, Peter; von Herder, Jakob; Steinkrauss, Henrike; Nemetschek, Rebekka; Witzel, Joachim; Müller, Jürgen L.

    2016-01-01

    Pedophilic disorder, a subtype of paraphilia, is defined as a recurrent sexual interest in prepubescent children, which is characterized by persistent thoughts, fantasies, urges, sexual arousal, or behavior. Besides a deviant sexual preference, sexual preoccupation was found to be a dynamic risk factor for reoffending. Thus, it is conceivable that sex offenders and especially sex offenders against children have difficulties to control their responses to sexual stimuli. In the current study pedophiles, forensic and non-forensic control subjects had to solve a cognitive task, while sexual distractors were presented simultaneously. This kind of task also requires control functions. Therefore, data were analyzed with respect to attentional control while comparing eye movements toward sexual distractors and toward the cognitive task. We were mainly interested in how early (fixation latency) and late (relative fixation time) attentional processes were allocated to both, the cognitive target stimuli and the sexual distractors. Pedophiles demonstrated significantly lower attentional control in the sexual distractor task than both control groups (non-pedophiles). They showed a shorter fixation latency and longer fixation time for sexual distractors than non-pedophiles. Furthermore, pedophiles demonstrated a longer fixation latency and shorter fixation time for cognitive target stimuli. For classification analyses, an attentional control index (ACI) was built, i.e., the difference between eye movements on cognitive target stimuli and sexual distractors. For the ACI of early attentional processes, i.e., fixation latency, a good classification between pedophiles and non-pedophiles was found. We assumed that the measured attentional control represents inhibitory executive functions, specifically interference control. Further studies should examine if low attentional control in pedophiles is due to low motivation to solve the task or rather to a lack of ability to control

  10. Neural correlates of the emotional Stroop task in panic disorder patients: an event-related fMRI study.

    PubMed

    Dresler, Thomas; Hindi Attar, Catherine; Spitzer, Carsten; Löwe, Bernd; Deckert, Jürgen; Büchel, Christian; Ehlis, Ann-Christine; Fallgatter, Andreas J

    2012-12-01

    Although being a standard tool to assess interference effects of disorder-specific words in clinical samples, the neural underpinnings of the emotional Stroop task are still not well understood and have hardly been investigated in experimental case-control studies. We therefore used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the attentional bias toward panic-related words in panic disorder (PD) patients and healthy controls. Twenty PD patients (with or without agoraphobia) and 23 healthy controls matched for age and gender performed an event-related emotional Stroop task with panic-related and neutral words while undergoing 3 Tesla fMRI. On the behavioral level, PD patients showed a significant emotional Stroop effect, i.e. color-naming of panic-related words was prolonged compared to neutral words. This effect was not observed in the control group. PD patients further differed from controls on the neural level in showing increased BOLD activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus in response to panic-related relative to neutral words. PD patients showed the expected attentional bias, i.e. an altered processing of disorder-specific stimuli. This emotional Stroop effect was paralleled by increased activation in the left prefrontal cortex which may indicate altered processing of emotional stimulus material. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Attentional demands of movement observation as tested by a dual task approach.

    PubMed

    Saucedo Marquez, Cinthia M; Ceux, Tanja; Wenderoth, Nicole

    2011-01-01

    Movement observation (MO) has been shown to activate the motor cortex of the observer as indicated by an increase of corticomotor excitability for muscles involved in the observed actions. Moreover, behavioral work has strongly suggested that this process occurs in a near-automatic manner. Here we further tested this proposal by applying transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) when subjects observed how an actor lifted objects of different weights as a single or a dual task. The secondary task was either an auditory discrimination task (experiment 1) or a visual discrimination task (experiment 2). In experiment 1, we found that corticomotor excitability reflected the force requirements indicated in the observed movies (i.e. higher responses when the actor had to apply higher forces). Interestingly, this effect was found irrespective of whether MO was performed as a single or a dual task. By contrast, no such systematic modulations of corticomotor excitability were observed in experiment 2 when visual distracters were present. We conclude that interference effects might arise when MO is performed while competing visual stimuli are present. However, when a secondary task is situated in a different modality, neural responses are in line with the notion that the observers motor system responds in a near-automatic manner. This suggests that MO is a task with very low cognitive demands which might be a valuable supplement for rehabilitation training, particularly, in the acute phase after the incident or in patients suffering from attention deficits. However, it is important to keep in mind that visual distracters might interfere with the neural response in M1.

  12. A Deficit in Movement-Derived Sentences in German-Speaking Hearing-Impaired Children

    PubMed Central

    Ruigendijk, Esther; Friedmann, Naama

    2017-01-01

    Children with hearing impairment (HI) show disorders in syntax and morphology. The question is whether and how these disorders are connected to problems in the auditory domain. The aim of this paper is to examine whether moderate to severe hearing loss at a young age affects the ability of German-speaking orally trained children to understand and produce sentences. We focused on sentence structures that are derived by syntactic movement, which have been identified as a sensitive marker for syntactic impairment in other languages and in other populations with syntactic impairment. Therefore, our study tested subject and object relatives, subject and object Wh-questions, passive sentences, and topicalized sentences, as well as sentences with verb movement to second sentential position. We tested 19 HI children aged 9;5–13;6 and compared their performance with hearing children using comprehension tasks of sentence-picture matching and sentence repetition tasks. For the comprehension tasks, we included HI children who passed an auditory discrimination task; for the sentence repetition tasks, we selected children who passed a screening task of simple sentence repetition without lip-reading; this made sure that they could perceive the words in the tests, so that we could test their grammatical abilities. The results clearly showed that most of the participants with HI had considerable difficulties in the comprehension and repetition of sentences with syntactic movement: they had significant difficulties understanding object relatives, Wh-questions, and topicalized sentences, and in the repetition of object who and which questions and subject relatives, as well as in sentences with verb movement to second sentential position. Repetition of passives was only problematic for some children. Object relatives were still difficult at this age for both HI and hearing children. An additional important outcome of the study is that not all sentence structures are impaired

  13. Comparison of six electromyography acquisition setups on hand movement classification tasks

    PubMed Central

    Pizzolato, Stefano; Tagliapietra, Luca; Cognolato, Matteo; Reggiani, Monica; Müller, Henning

    2017-01-01

    Hand prostheses controlled by surface electromyography are promising due to the non-invasive approach and the control capabilities offered by machine learning. Nevertheless, dexterous prostheses are still scarcely spread due to control difficulties, low robustness and often prohibitive costs. Several sEMG acquisition setups are now available, ranging in terms of costs between a few hundred and several thousand dollars. The objective of this paper is the relative comparison of six acquisition setups on an identical hand movement classification task, in order to help the researchers to choose the proper acquisition setup for their requirements. The acquisition setups are based on four different sEMG electrodes (including Otto Bock, Delsys Trigno, Cometa Wave + Dormo ECG and two Thalmic Myo armbands) and they were used to record more than 50 hand movements from intact subjects with a standardized acquisition protocol. The relative performance of the six sEMG acquisition setups is compared on 41 identical hand movements with a standardized feature extraction and data analysis pipeline aimed at performing hand movement classification. Comparable classification results are obtained with three acquisition setups including the Delsys Trigno, the Cometa Wave and the affordable setup composed of two Myo armbands. The results suggest that practical sEMG tests can be performed even when costs are relevant (e.g. in small laboratories, developing countries or use by children). All the presented datasets can be used for offline tests and their quality can easily be compared as the data sets are publicly available. PMID:29023548

  14. Proximal movements compensate for distal forelimb movement impairments in a reach-to-eat task in Huntington's disease: new insights into motor impairments in a real-world skill.

    PubMed

    Klein, Alexander; Sacrey, Lori-Ann R; Dunnett, Stephen B; Whishaw, Ian Q; Nikkhah, Guido

    2011-02-01

    Huntington's disease (HD) causes severe motor impairments that are characterized by chorea, dystonia, and impaired fine motor control. The motor deficits include deficits in the control of the forelimb, but as yet there has been no comprehensive assessment of the impairments in arm, hand and digit movements as they are used in every-day tasks. The present study investigated the reaching of twelve HD subjects and twelve age-matched control subjects on a reach-to-eat task. The subjects were asked to reach for a small food item, with the left or the right hand, and then bring it to the mouth for eating. The task assesses the major features of skilled forelimb use, including orienting to a target, transport of the hand to a target, use of a precision grasp of the target, limb withdrawal to the mouth, and release of the food item into the mouth, and the integration of the movements into a smooth act. The movements were analyzed frame-by-frame by scoring the video record using an established movement element rating scale and by biometric analysis to describe limb trajectory. All HD subjects displayed greater reliance on more proximal movements in reaching. They also displayed overall jerkiness, a significant impairment in end point error correction (i.e. no smooth trajectories), deficits in timing and terminating motion (overshooting the target), impairments in rotation of the hand, abnormalities in grasping, and impairments in releasing the food item to the mouth. Although impairment in the control of the distal segments of the limb was common to all subjects, the intrusion of choreatic movements produced a pattern of highly variable performance between subjects. The quantification of reaching performance as measured by this analysis provides new insights into the impairments of HD subjects, allows an easily administered and inexpensive way to document the many skilled limb movement abnormalities, and relates the impairments to a real-world context. The protocol can

  15. Effects of task constraints on reaching kinematics by healthy adults.

    PubMed

    Wu, Ching-Yi; Lin, Keh-Chung; Lin, Kwan-Hwa; Chang, Chein-Wei; Chen, Chia-Ling

    2005-06-01

    Understanding the control of movement requires an awareness of how tasks constrain movements. The present study investigated the effects of two types of task constraints--spatial accuracy (effector size) and target location--on reaching kinematics. 15 right-handed healthy young adults (7 men, 8 women) whose mean age was 23.6 yr. (SD=3.9 yr.) performed the ringing task under six conditions, formed by the crossing of effector size (larger vs smaller size) and target location (left, right, or a central position). Significant main effects of effector size and target location were found for peak velocity and movement time. There was a significant interaction for the percentage of time to peak velocity. The findings suggested that task constraints may modulate movement performance in specific ways. Effects of effector size might be a consequence of feedforward and feedback control, and location effects might be influenced by both biomechanical and neurological factors.

  16. SIL1-related Marinesco-Sjoegren syndrome (MSS) with associated motor neuronopathy and bradykinetic movement disorder.

    PubMed

    Byrne, Susan; Dlamini, Nomazulu; Lumsden, Daniel; Pitt, Matthew; Zaharieva, Irina; Muntoni, Francesco; King, Andrew; Robert, Leema; Jungbluth, Heinz

    2015-07-01

    Marinesco-Sjoegren syndrome (MSS) is a recessively inherited multisystem disorder caused by mutations in SIL1 and characterized by cerebellar atrophy with ataxia, cataracts, a skeletal muscle myopathy, and variable degrees of developmental delay. Pathogenic mechanisms implicated to date include mitochondrial, nuclear envelope and lysosomal-autophagic pathway abnormalities. Here we present a 5-year-old girl with SIL1-related MSS and additional unusual features of an associated motor neuronopathy and a bradykinetic movement disorder preceding the onset of ataxia. These findings suggest that an associated motor neuronopathy may be part of the phenotypical spectrum of SIL1-related MSS and should be actively investigated in genetically confirmed cases. The additional observation of a bradykinetic movement disorder suggests an intriguing continuum between neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative multisystem disorders intricately linked in the same cellular pathways. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Microevaluating Learners' Task-Specific Motivation in a Task-Based Business Spanish Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Torres, Julio; Serafini, Ellen J.

    2016-01-01

    Scholars of task-based language teaching (TBLT) advocate for the identification of learners' communicative needs to inform syllabus design, particularly in language for specific purposes contexts (e.g., Long 2015). However, little research has applied TBLT principles in designing Spanish for specific purposes curricula. Moreover, despite the…

  18. Clinical Assessment of Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Cohen, Stephanie; Leckman, James F.; Bloch, Michael H.

    2013-01-01

    Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder involving multiple motor and phonic tics. Tics, which usually begin between the ages of 6 and 8, are sudden, rapid, stereotyped, and apparently purposeless movements or sounds that involve discrete muscle groups. Individuals with TS experience a variety of different sensory phenomena, including premonitory urges prior to tics and somatic hypersensitivity due to impaired sensorimotor gating. In addition to other conditions, stress, anxiety, fatigue, or other heightened emotional states tend to exacerbate tics, while relaxation, playing sports, and focused concentration on a specific task tend to alleviate tic symptoms. Ninety percent of children with TS also have comorbid conditions, such as Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or an impulse control disorder. These disorders often cause more problems for the child both at home and at school than tics do alone. Proper diagnosis and treatment of TS involves appropriate evaluation and recognition, not only of tics, but also of these associated conditions. PMID:23206664

  19. Improving arm function in chronic stroke: a pilot study of sensory amplitude electrical stimulation via glove electrode during task-specific training.

    PubMed

    Sullivan, Jane; Girardi, Madeline; Hensley, Melissa; Rohaus, Jordan; Schewe, Clay; Whittey, Colby; Hansen, Piper; Muir, Kimberly

    2015-06-01

    To investigate the effects of sensory amplitude electrical stimulation (SES) delivered by glove electrode during task-specific exercise on arm movement, function, and sensation in chronic stroke. The design was an intervention pilot study, pre-test, post-test, follow-up design. The settings used were a university research laboratory and home-based intervention. Participants comprised of 11 individuals with chronic stroke (7.2 ± 4.1 years post onset) and moderate arm paresis, 10.82/20 ± 2.27 on the Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement (STREAM) - Arm Subscale. Participants were seven males and four females (mean age: 59 years). Participants were recruited from university-based database. Intervention- Participants engaged in task-specific training at home for 30 min, twice daily, for 5 weeks, while receiving SES via glove electrode. Participants received supervised task practice at least twice during intervention period for 1 hour. Main outcome measures- Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT), STREAM - Arm Subscale, Motor Activity Log-14 (MAL-14) - Amount and Quality Subscales, and Nottingham Stereognosis Assessment (NSA). Significant changes were found in group mean pre- and post-test comparisons on the NSA (P = 0.042), MAL amount subscale (P = 0.047), and JTHFT (with writing item 29 excluded) (P = 0.003) and in pre-test to follow-up comparisons on NSA (P = 0.027) and JTHFT (writing item excluded) (P = 0.009). There was no significant change on the STREAM (P = 1.0). Individuals with a greater baseline motor capacity determined by STREAM scores (P = 0.048) and more recent stroke (P = 0.014) had significantly greater improvements. Combining task-specific training with glove-based SES in chronic stroke resulted in changes in arm sensation and function that were maintained at 3-month follow-up.

  20. The effect of ankle bracing on knee kinetics and kinematics during volleyball-specific tasks.

    PubMed

    West, T; Ng, L; Campbell, A

    2014-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of ankle bracing on knee kinetics and kinematics during volleyball tasks. Fifteen healthy, elite, female volleyball players performed a series of straight-line and lateral volleyball tasks with no brace and when wearing an ankle brace. A 14-camera Vicon motion analysis system and AMTI force plate were used to capture the kinetic and kinematic data. Knee range of motion, peak knee anterior-posterior and medial-lateral shear forces, and peak ground reaction forces that occurred between initial contact with the force plate and toe off were compared using paired sample t-tests between the braced and non-braced conditions (P < 0.05). The results revealed no significant effect of bracing on knee kinematics or ground reaction forces during any task or on knee kinetics during the straight-line movement volleyball tasks. However, ankle bracing was demonstrated to reduce knee lateral shear forces during all of the lateral movement volleyball tasks. Wearing the Active Ankle T2 brace will not impact knee joint range of motion and may in fact reduce shear loading to the knee joint in volleyball players. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Effective Connectivity of Cortical Sensorimotor Networks During Finger Movement Tasks: A Simultaneous fNIRS, fMRI, EEG Study.

    PubMed

    Anwar, A R; Muthalib, M; Perrey, S; Galka, A; Granert, O; Wolff, S; Heute, U; Deuschl, G; Raethjen, J; Muthuraman, Muthuraman

    2016-09-01

    Recently, interest has been growing to understand the underlying dynamic directional relationship between simultaneously activated regions of the brain during motor task performance. Such directionality analysis (or effective connectivity analysis), based on non-invasive electrophysiological (electroencephalography-EEG) and hemodynamic (functional near infrared spectroscopy-fNIRS; and functional magnetic resonance imaging-fMRI) neuroimaging modalities can provide an estimate of the motor task-related information flow from one brain region to another. Since EEG, fNIRS and fMRI modalities achieve different spatial and temporal resolutions of motor-task related activation in the brain, the aim of this study was to determine the effective connectivity of cortico-cortical sensorimotor networks during finger movement tasks measured by each neuroimaging modality. Nine healthy subjects performed right hand finger movement tasks of different complexity (simple finger tapping-FT, simple finger sequence-SFS, and complex finger sequence-CFS). We focused our observations on three cortical regions of interest (ROIs), namely the contralateral sensorimotor cortex (SMC), the contralateral premotor cortex (PMC) and the contralateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We estimated the effective connectivity between these ROIs using conditional Granger causality (GC) analysis determined from the time series signals measured by fMRI (blood oxygenation level-dependent-BOLD), fNIRS (oxygenated-O2Hb and deoxygenated-HHb hemoglobin), and EEG (scalp and source level analysis) neuroimaging modalities. The effective connectivity analysis showed significant bi-directional information flow between the SMC, PMC, and DLPFC as determined by the EEG (scalp and source), fMRI (BOLD) and fNIRS (O2Hb and HHb) modalities for all three motor tasks. However the source level EEG GC values were significantly greater than the other modalities. In addition, only the source level EEG showed a

  2. Women-specific mental disorders in DSM-V: are we failing again?

    PubMed

    Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich

    2010-02-01

    Despite a wealth of studies on differences regarding the biobehavioral and social-psychological bases of mental disorders in men and women and repeated calls for increased attention, women-specific issues have so far not been comprehensively addressed in past diagnostic classification systems of mental disorders. There is also increasing evidence that this situation will not change significantly in the upcoming revisions of ICD-11 and DSM-V. This paper explores reasons for this continued failure, highlighting three major barriers: the fragmentation of the field of women's mental health research, lack of emphasis on diagnostic classificatory issues beyond a few selected clinical conditions, and finally, the "current rules of game" used by the current DSM-V Task Forces in the revision process of DSM-V. The paper calls for concerted efforts of researchers, clinicians, and other stakeholders within a more coherent and comprehensive framework aiming at broader coverage of women-specific diagnostic classificatory issues in future diagnostic systems.

  3. Goal equivalent manifold analysis of task performance in non-specific LBP and healthy subjects during repetitive trunk movement: Effect of load, velocity, symmetry.

    PubMed

    Chehrehrazi, Mahshid; Sanjari, Mohammad Ali; Mokhtarinia, Hamid Reza; Jamshidi, Ali Ashraf; Maroufi, Nader; Parnianpour, Mohamad

    2017-01-01

    Motor abundance allows reliability of motor performance despite its variability. The nature of this variability provides important information on the flexibility of control strategies. This feature of control may be affected by low back pain (LPB) and trunk flexion/extension conditions. Goal equivalent manifold (GEM) analysis was used to quantify the ability to exploit motor abundance during repeated trunk flexion/extension in healthy individuals and people with chronic non-specific LBP (CNSLBP). Kinematic data were collected from 22 healthy volunteers and 22 CNSLBP patients during metronomically timed, repeated trunk flexion/extension in three conditions of symmetry, velocity, and loading; each at two levels. A goal function for the task was defined as maintaining a constant movement time at each cycle. Given the GEM, flexibility index and performance index were calculated respectively as amounts of goal-equivalent variability and the ratio of goal-equivalent to non-goal-equivalent variability. CNSLBP group was as similar as healthy individuals in both flexibility index (p=0.41) and performance index (p=0.24). Performance index was higher in asymmetric (p<0.001), high velocity (p<0.001), and loaded (p=0.006) conditions. Performance and flexibility in using motor abundance were influenced by repeated trunk flexion/extension conditions. However, these measures were not significantly affected by CNSLBP. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Task-phase-specific dynamics of basal forebrain neuronal ensembles

    PubMed Central

    Tingley, David; Alexander, Andrew S.; Kolbu, Sean; de Sa, Virginia R.; Chiba, Andrea A.; Nitz, Douglas A.

    2014-01-01

    Cortically projecting basal forebrain neurons play a critical role in learning and attention, and their degeneration accompanies age-related impairments in cognition. Despite the impressive anatomical and cell-type complexity of this system, currently available data suggest that basal forebrain neurons lack complexity in their response fields, with activity primarily reflecting only macro-level brain states such as sleep and wake, onset of relevant stimuli and/or reward obtainment. The current study examined the spiking activity of basal forebrain neuron populations across multiple phases of a selective attention task, addressing, in particular, the issue of complexity in ensemble firing patterns across time. Clustering techniques applied to the full population revealed a large number of distinct categories of task-phase-specific activity patterns. Unique population firing-rate vectors defined each task phase and most categories of task-phase-specific firing had counterparts with opposing firing patterns. An analogous set of task-phase-specific firing patterns was also observed in a population of posterior parietal cortex neurons. Thus, consistent with the known anatomical complexity, basal forebrain population dynamics are capable of differentially modulating their cortical targets according to the unique sets of environmental stimuli, motor requirements, and cognitive processes associated with different task phases. PMID:25309352

  5. Medications influencing central cholinergic pathways affect fixation stability, saccadic response time and associated eye movement dynamics during a temporally-cued visual reaction time task.

    PubMed

    Naicker, Preshanta; Anoopkumar-Dukie, Shailendra; Grant, Gary D; Modenese, Luca; Kavanagh, Justin J

    2017-02-01

    Anticholinergic medications largely exert their effects due to actions on the muscarinic receptor, which mediates the functions of acetylcholine in the peripheral and central nervous systems. In the central nervous system, acetylcholine plays an important role in the modulation of movement. This study investigated the effects of over-the-counter medications with varying degrees of central anticholinergic properties on fixation stability, saccadic response time and the dynamics associated with this eye movement during a temporally-cued visual reaction time task, in order to establish the significance of central cholinergic pathways in influencing eye movements during reaction time tasks. Twenty-two participants were recruited into the placebo-controlled, human double-blind, four-way crossover investigation. Eye tracking technology recorded eye movements while participants reacted to visual stimuli following temporally informative and uninformative cues. The task was performed pre-ingestion as well as 0.5 and 2 h post-ingestion of promethazine hydrochloride (strong centrally acting anticholinergic), hyoscine hydrobromide (moderate centrally acting anticholinergic), hyoscine butylbromide (anticholinergic devoid of central properties) and a placebo. Promethazine decreased fixation stability during the reaction time task. In addition, promethazine was the only drug to increase saccadic response time during temporally informative and uninformative cued trials, whereby effects on response time were more pronounced following temporally informative cues. Promethazine also decreased saccadic amplitude and increased saccadic duration during the temporally-cued reaction time task. Collectively, the results of the study highlight the significant role that central cholinergic pathways play in the control of eye movements during tasks that involve stimulus identification and motor responses following temporal cues.

  6. 76 FR 69296 - Proposed Models for Plant-Specific Adoption of Technical Specifications Task Force Traveler TSTF...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-08

    ... Adoption of Technical Specifications Task Force Traveler TSTF-500, Revision 2, ``DC Electrical Rewrite... Technical Specifications Task Force (TSTF) Traveler TSTF-500, Revision 2, ``DC Electrical Rewrite--Update to... Reactor Systems Engineer, Technical Specifications Branch, Mail Stop: O-7 C2A, Division of Inspection and...

  7. Reduced autobiographical memory specificity is associated with impaired discrimination learning in anxiety disorder patients

    PubMed Central

    Lenaert, Bert; Boddez, Yannick; Vervliet, Bram; Schruers, Koen; Hermans, Dirk

    2015-01-01

    Associative learning plays an important role in the development of anxiety disorders, but a thorough understanding of the variables that impact such learning is still lacking. We investigated whether individual differences in autobiographical memory specificity are related to discrimination learning and generalization. In an associative learning task, participants learned the association between two pictures of female faces and a non-aversive outcome. Subsequently, six morphed pictures functioning as generalization stimuli (GSs) were introduced. In a sample of healthy participants (Study 1), we did not find evidence for differences in discrimination learning as a function of memory specificity. In a sample of anxiety disorder patients (Study 2), individuals who were characterized by low memory specificity showed deficient discrimination learning relative to high specific individuals. In contrast to previous findings, results revealed no effect of memory specificity on generalization. These results indicate that impaired discrimination learning, previously shown in patients suffering from an anxiety disorder, may be—in part—due to limited memory specificity. Together, these studies emphasize the importance of incorporating cognitive variables in associative learning theories and their implications for the development of anxiety disorders. In addition, re-analyses of the data (Study 3) showed that patients suffering from panic disorder showed higher outcome expectancies in the presence of the stimulus that was never followed by an outcome during discrimination training, relative to patients suffering from other anxiety disorders and healthy participants. Because we used a neutral, non-aversive outcome (i.e., drawing of a lightning bolt), these data suggest that learning abnormalities in panic disorder may not be restricted to fear learning, but rather reflect a more general associative learning deficit that also manifests in fear irrelevant contexts. PMID

  8. Human movement stochastic variability leads to diagnostic biomarkers In Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Di; Torres, Elizabeth B.; Jose, Jorge V.

    2015-03-01

    ASD is a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders. The high heterogeneity of the symptoms associated with the disorder impedes efficient diagnoses based on human observations. Recent advances with high-resolution MEM wearable sensors enable accurate movement measurements that may escape the naked eye. It calls for objective metrics to extract physiological relevant information from the rapidly accumulating data. In this talk we'll discuss the statistical analysis of movement data continuously collected with high-resolution sensors at 240Hz. We calculated statistical properties of speed fluctuations within the millisecond time range that closely correlate with the subjects' cognitive abilities. We computed the periodicity and synchronicity of the speed fluctuations' from their power spectrum and ensemble averaged two-point cross-correlation function. We built a two-parameter phase space from the temporal statistical analyses of the nearest neighbor fluctuations that provided a quantitative biomarker for ASD and adult normal subjects and further classified ASD severity. We also found age related developmental statistical signatures and potential ASD parental links in our movement dynamical studies. Our results may have direct clinical applications.

  9. Automatic gain control of neural coupling during cooperative hand movements.

    PubMed

    Thomas, F A; Dietz, V; Schrafl-Altermatt, M

    2018-04-13

    Cooperative hand movements (e.g. opening a bottle) are controlled by a task-specific neural coupling, reflected in EMG reflex responses contralateral to the stimulation site. In this study the contralateral reflex responses in forearm extensor muscles to ipsilateral ulnar nerve stimulation was analyzed at various resistance and velocities of cooperative hand movements. The size of contralateral reflex responses was closely related to the level of forearm muscle activation required to accomplish the various cooperative hand movement tasks. This indicates an automatic gain control of neural coupling that allows a rapid matching of corrective forces exerted at both sides of an object with the goal 'two hands one action'.

  10. International Parkinson and movement disorder society evidence-based medicine review: Update on treatments for the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Fox, Susan H; Katzenschlager, Regina; Lim, Shen-Yang; Barton, Brandon; de Bie, Rob M A; Seppi, Klaus; Coelho, Miguel; Sampaio, Cristina

    2018-03-23

    The objective of this review was to update evidence-based medicine recommendations for treating motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The Movement Disorder Society Evidence-Based Medicine Committee recommendations for treatments of PD were first published in 2002 and updated in 2011, and we continued the review to December 31, 2016. Level I studies of interventions for motor symptoms were reviewed. Criteria for inclusion and quality scoring were as previously reported. Five clinical indications were considered, and conclusions regarding the implications for clinical practice are reported. A total of 143 new studies qualified. There are no clinically useful interventions to prevent/delay disease progression. For monotherapy of early PD, nonergot dopamine agonists, oral levodopa preparations, selegiline, and rasagiline are clinically useful. For adjunct therapy in early/stable PD, nonergot dopamine agonists, rasagiline, and zonisamide are clinically useful. For adjunct therapy in optimized PD for general or specific motor symptoms including gait, rivastigmine is possibly useful and physiotherapy is clinically useful; exercise-based movement strategy training and formalized patterned exercises are possibly useful. There are no new studies and no changes in the conclusions for the prevention/delay of motor complications. For treating motor fluctuations, most nonergot dopamine agonists, pergolide, levodopa ER, levodopa intestinal infusion, entacapone, opicapone, rasagiline, zonisamide, safinamide, and bilateral STN and GPi DBS are clinically useful. For dyskinesia, amantadine, clozapine, and bilateral STN DBS and GPi DBS are clinically useful. The options for treating PD symptoms continues to expand. These recommendations allow the treating physician to determine which intervention to recommend to an individual patient. © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

  11. Planning multiple movements within a fixed time limit: The cost of constrained time allocation in a visuo-motor task

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Hang; Wu, Shih-Wei; Maloney, Laurence T.

    2010-01-01

    S.-W. Wu, M. F. Dal Martello, and L. T. Maloney (2009) evaluated subjects' performance in a visuo-motor task where subjects were asked to hit two targets in sequence within a fixed time limit. Hitting targets earned rewards and Wu et al. varied rewards associated with targets. They found that subjects failed to maximize expected gain; they failed to invest more time in the movement to the more valuable target. What could explain this lack of response to reward? We first considered the possibility that subjects require training in allocating time between two movements. In Experiment 1, we found that, after extensive training, subjects still failed: They did not vary time allocation with changes in payoff. However, their actual gains equaled or exceeded the expected gain of an ideal time allocator, indicating that constraining time itself has a cost for motor accuracy. In a second experiment, we found that movements made under externally imposed time limits were less accurate than movements made with the same timing freely selected by the mover. Constrained time allocation cost about 17% in expected gain. These results suggest that there is no single speed–accuracy tradeoff for movement in our task and that subjects pursued different motor strategies with distinct speed–accuracy tradeoffs in different conditions. PMID:20884550

  12. Specific and non-specific upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder syndromes in automobile manufacturing workers

    PubMed Central

    d'Errico, Angelo; Katz, Jeffrey N.; Gore, Rebecca; Punnett, Laura

    2009-01-01

    Objective A longitudinal cohort of automobile manufacturing workers (n = 1214) was examined for: 1) prevalence and persistence of specific upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UEMSDs) such as lateral epicondylitis and de Quervain's disease, and non-specific disorders (NSDs) defined in symptomatic individuals without any specific disorder, and 2) disorder prognoses based on symptom characteristics and other factors. Methods Eight specific disorders were identified through case definitions based on upper extremity physical examinations and symptom surveys administered on three occasions over six years. Results At baseline, 41% of the cohort reported upper extremity symptoms; 18% (n = 214) of these had NSDs. In each survey, tendon-related conditions accounted for over half of the specific morbidity. Twenty-five percent had UEMSDs in multiple anatomical sites, and most with hand/wrist disorders had two or more hand/wrist UEMSDs. Persistence for all specific disorders decreased with length of follow-up. Specific UEMSDs were characterized by greater pain severity and functional impairment, and more lost work days than NSDs. Conclusions Upper extremity symptoms and diagnoses vary over time. NSDs may be the early stages of conditions that will eventually become more specific. NSDs and overlapping specific UEMSDs should be taken into account in UEMSD classification. PMID:19016265

  13. Specific and non-specific upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder syndromes in automobile manufacturing workers.

    PubMed

    Gold, Judith E; d'Errico, Angelo; Katz, Jeffrey N; Gore, Rebecca; Punnett, Laura

    2009-02-01

    A longitudinal cohort of automobile manufacturing workers (n = 1,214) was examined for: (1) prevalence and persistence of specific upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UEMSDs) such as lateral epicondylitis and de Quervain's disease, and non-specific disorders (NSDs) defined in symptomatic individuals without any specific disorder, and (2) disorder prognoses based on symptom characteristics and other factors. Eight specific disorders were identified through case definitions based on upper extremity physical examinations and symptom surveys administered on three occasions over 6 years. At baseline, 41% of the cohort reported upper extremity symptoms; 18% (n = 214) of these had NSDs. In each survey, tendon-related conditions accounted for over half of the specific morbidity. Twenty-five percent had UEMSDs in multiple anatomical sites, and most with hand/wrist disorders had two or more hand/wrist UEMSDs. Persistence for all specific disorders decreased with length of follow-up. Specific UEMSDs were characterized by greater pain severity and functional impairment, and more lost work days than NSDs. Upper extremity symptoms and diagnoses vary over time. NSDs may be the early stages of conditions that will eventually become more specific. NSDs and overlapping specific UEMSDs should be taken into account in UEMSD classification. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:124-132, 2009. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  14. Quantifying kinematics of purposeful movements to real, imagined, or absent functional objects: implications for modelling trajectories for robot-assisted ADL tasks.

    PubMed

    Wisneski, Kimberly J; Johnson, Michelle J

    2007-03-23

    Robotic therapy is at the forefront of stroke rehabilitation. The Activities of Daily Living Exercise Robot (ADLER) was developed to improve carryover of gains after training by combining the benefits of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) training (motivation and functional task practice with real objects), with the benefits of robot mediated therapy (repeatability and reliability). In combining these two therapy techniques, we seek to develop a new model for trajectory generation that will support functional movements to real objects during robot training. We studied natural movements to real objects and report on how initial reaching movements are affected by real objects and how these movements deviate from the straight line paths predicted by the minimum jerk model, typically used to generate trajectories in robot training environments. We highlight key issues that to be considered in modelling natural trajectories. Movement data was collected as eight normal subjects completed ADLs such as drinking and eating. Three conditions were considered: object absent, imagined, and present. This data was compared to predicted trajectories generated from implementing the minimum jerk model. The deviations in both the plane of the table (XY) and the sagittal plane of torso (XZ) were examined for both reaches to a cup and to a spoon. Velocity profiles and curvature were also quantified for all trajectories. We hypothesized that movements performed with functional task constraints and objects would deviate from the minimum jerk trajectory model more than those performed under imaginary or object absent conditions. Trajectory deviations from the predicted minimum jerk model for these reaches were shown to depend on three variables: object presence, object orientation, and plane of movement. When subjects completed the cup reach their movements were more curved than for the spoon reach. The object present condition for the cup reach showed more curvature than in the object

  15. Comparing kinematic changes between a finger-tapping task and unconstrained finger flexion-extension task in patients with Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Teo, W P; Rodrigues, J P; Mastaglia, F L; Thickbroom, G W

    2013-06-01

    Repetitive finger tapping is a well-established clinical test for the evaluation of parkinsonian bradykinesia, but few studies have investigated other finger movement modalities. We compared the kinematic changes (movement rate and amplitude) and response to levodopa during a conventional index finger-thumb-tapping task and an unconstrained index finger flexion-extension task performed at maximal voluntary rate (MVR) for 20 s in 11 individuals with levodopa-responsive Parkinson's disease (OFF and ON) and 10 healthy age-matched controls. Between-task comparisons showed that for all conditions, the initial movement rate was greater for the unconstrained flexion-extension task than the tapping task. Movement rate in the OFF state was slower than in controls for both tasks and normalized in the ON state. The movement amplitude was also reduced for both tasks in OFF and increased in the ON state but did not reach control levels. The rate and amplitude of movement declined significantly for both tasks under all conditions (OFF/ON and controls). The time course of rate decline was comparable for both tasks and was similar in OFF/ON and controls, whereas the tapping task was associated with a greater decline in MA, both in controls and ON, but not OFF. The findings indicate that both finger movement tasks show similar kinematic changes during a 20-s sustained MVR, but that movement amplitude is less well sustained during the tapping task than the unconstrained finger movement task. Both movement rate and amplitude improved with levodopa; however, movement rate was more levodopa responsive than amplitude.

  16. The Correlation Between Cognitive and Movement Shifting and Brain Activity in Children With ADHD.

    PubMed

    Kang, Kyoung Doo; Han, Doug Hyun; Kim, Sun Mi; Bae, Sujin; Renshaw, Perry F

    2018-05-01

    We assessed the correlation between the deficits of cognition, movement, and brain activity in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactvity Disorder (ADHD). We recruited 15 children with ADHD and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants. Clinical symptoms, cognitive shifting, movement shifting, and brain activity were assessed using the Korean ADHD Rating Scale, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the 7- and 14-ring drill test with hop jumps (7 HJ and 14 HJ), and 3.0 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, respectively. ADHD children showed an increased distance traveled and decreased speed on the 14 HJ task. In response to the WCST task, ADHD children showed decreased activation within right gyrus. Total distance on the 14 HJ task was negatively correlated with the mean β value of Cluster 2 in ADHD children. These results suggested that children with ADHD showed difficulty with attention shifting as well as with movement shifting.

  17. Do patients with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder have a disease-specific personality?

    PubMed

    Sasai, Taeko; Inoue, Yuichi; Matsuura, Masato

    2012-06-01

    Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) occurs idiopathically (iRBD), frequently representing a prodromal phase of Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous reports have described that patients with PD have premorbid personality profiles such as industriousness, inflexibility, cautiousness, and lack of novelty seeking. As well, psychological stress often aggravates RBD symptoms. These phenomena encouraged us to investigate personality profiles in iRBD patients. In this study, 53 patients with iRBD and 49 age and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. We used the revised version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PIR) to measure the personality of these subjects, and the 5 domains and the 30 facets of the NEO-PIR were compared between the two groups. Within the iRBD group, we investigated the association between RBD variables, e.g. the proportion of REM sleep without atonia (RWA/REM), length of RBD morbidity, frequency of vocalization or abnormal behavior, and the variables of NEO-PIR. In the patients, olfactory function was significantly lower than that of healthy controls, but the inventory differences were not significant. The inventory showed no association with any RBD variable, or the existence of aggravation of these symptoms triggered by psychological stress, or olfactory dysfunction. These results suggest that RBD patients do not have a personality profile that might predict PD development. The personality profile itself cannot explain the psychological-stress-dependent aggravation of RBD symptoms. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Considering Valproate as a Risk Factor for Rapid Exacerbation of Complex Movement Disorder in Progressed Stages of Late-Infantile CLN2 Disease.

    PubMed

    Johannsen, Jessika; Nickel, Miriam; Schulz, Angela; Denecke, Jonas

    2016-06-01

    Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2 disease, OMIM 204500) is a rare autosomal-recessive lysosomal storage disorder. It is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders in childhood. Symptoms include epilepsy, rapid motor and language regression, dementia, visual loss, and a complex movement disorder in later stages of the disease. We report on two children with genetically confirmed late-infantile CLN2 disease who developed a severe exacerbation of their complex movement disorder leading to hyperthermia, hyper-CK-emia and decreased level of consciousness over several weeks despite different therapeutic approaches. Both patients were on long-term antiepileptic treatment with valproate and only after the withdrawal of valproate, the movement disorder disappeared and level of consciousness improved. These observations emphasize that valproate has to be considered as a possible risk factor in patients in later stages of late-infantile CLN2 disease who develop a rapidly progressive complex movement disorder. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  19. A new real-time visual assessment method for faulty movement patterns during a jump-landing task.

    PubMed

    Rabin, Alon; Levi, Ran; Abramowitz, Shai; Kozol, Zvi

    2016-07-01

    Determine the interrater reliability of a new real-time assessment of faulty movement patterns during a jump-landing task. Interrater reliability study. Human movement laboratory. 50 healthy females. Assessment included 6 items which were evaluated from a front and a side view. Two Physical Therapy students used a 9-point scale (0-8) to independently rate the quality of movement as good (0-2), moderate (3-5), or poor (6-8). Interrater reliability was expressed by percent agreement and weighted kappa. One examiner rated the quality of movement of 6 subjects as good, 34 subjects as moderate, and 10 subjects as poor. The second examiner rated the quality of movement of 12 subjects as good, 23 subjects as moderate, and 15 subjects as poor. Percent agreement and weighted kappa (95% confidence interval) were 78% and 0.68 (0.51, 0.85), respectively. A new real-time assessment of faulty movement patterns during jump-landing demonstrated adequate interrater reliability. Further study is warranted to validate this method against a motion analysis system, as well as to establish its predictive validity for injury. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Comparison versus Contrast: Task Specifics Affect Category Acquisition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ankowski, Amber A.; Vlach, Haley A.; Sandhofer, Catherine M.

    2013-01-01

    A large literature has documented that comparison and contrast lead to better performance in a variety of tasks. However, studies of comparison and contrast present contradictory conclusions as to when and how these processes benefit learners. Across four studies, we examined how the specifics of the comparison and contrast task affect performance…

  1. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy for personality disorders in older adults?

    PubMed

    Gielkens, E M J; Sobczak, S; Van Alphen, S P J

    2016-10-01

    Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a kind of psychotherapy, which is growing in popularity, particularly for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When Shapiro first introduced EMDR in 1989, it was approached as a controversial treatment because of lack of evidence. However, nowadays there is growing evidence for EMDR efficacy in PTSD (Mc Guire et al., 2014) and EMDR is recommended by international and national treatment guidelines for PTSD. Moreover, EMDR is also used for the treatment of other anxiety disorders, such as panic disorders (De Jongh et al., 2002). Furthermore, research continues on effects of EMDR in addiction, somatoform disorders and psychosis. So far, there is no empirical research on the efficacy of EMDR treatment in older adults.

  2. Fundamental movement skills in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    PubMed

    Pan, Chien-Yu; Tsai, Chia-Liang; Chu, Chia-Hua

    2009-12-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the movement skills of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and those without disabilities. Ninety-one children (ASD, n = 28; ADHD, n = 29; control, n = 34), ages 6-10 years, were of average IQ participated. After controlling for age, both ASD and ADHD groups scored significantly lower than controls (p's < .05) on overall gross motor development as well as locomotor and object control subtests, and the ASD group performed more poorly than the ADHD group (p's < .01) on both subtests. Of the children with ASD and ADHD, only 16% had clinical levels of impairment. Potential underlying factors are discussed, with suggestions for future research.

  3. Upper limb motor training using a Saebo™ orthosis is feasible for increasing task-specific practice in hospital after stroke.

    PubMed

    Lannin, Natasha A; Cusick, Anne; Hills, Caroline; Kinnear, Bianca; Vogel, Karin; Matthews, Kate; Bowring, Greg

    2016-12-01

    Assistive technologies have the potential to increase the amount of movement practice provided during inpatient stroke rehabilitation. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the Saebo-Flex ™ device in a subacute stroke setting to increase task-specific practice for people with little or no active hand movement. The secondary aim was to collect preliminary data comparing hand/upper limb function between a control group that received usual rehabilitation and an intervention group that used, in addition, the Saebo-Flex ™ device. Nine inpatients (mean three months (median six weeks) post-stroke) participated in this feasibility study conducted in an Australian rehabilitation setting, using a randomised pre-test and post-test design with concealed allocation and blinded outcome assessment. In addition to usual rehabilitation, the intervention group received eight weeks of daily motor training using the Saebo-Flex ™ device. The control group received usual rehabilitation (task-specific motor training) only. Participants were assessed at baseline (pre-randomisation) and at the end of the eight-week study period. Feasibility was assessed with respect to ease of recruitment, application of the device, compliance with the treatment programme and safety. Secondary outcome measures included the Motor Assessment Scale (upper limb items), Box and Block Test, grip strength and the Stroke Impact Scale. Recruitment to the study was very slow because of the low number of patients with little or no active hand movement. Otherwise, the study was feasible in terms of being able to apply the Saebo-Flex ™ device and compliance with the treatment programme. There were no adverse events, and a greater amount of upper limb rehabilitation was provided to the intervention group. While there were trends in favour of the intervention group, particularly for dexterity, no between-group differences were seen for any of the secondary outcomes. This pilot

  4. Learning fast accurate movements requires intact frontostriatal circuits

    PubMed Central

    Shabbott, Britne; Ravindran, Roshni; Schumacher, Joseph W.; Wasserman, Paula B.; Marder, Karen S.; Mazzoni, Pietro

    2013-01-01

    The basal ganglia are known to play a crucial role in movement execution, but their importance for motor skill learning remains unclear. Obstacles to our understanding include the lack of a universally accepted definition of motor skill learning (definition confound), and difficulties in distinguishing learning deficits from execution impairments (performance confound). We studied how healthy subjects and subjects with a basal ganglia disorder learn fast accurate reaching movements. We addressed the definition and performance confounds by: (1) focusing on an operationally defined core element of motor skill learning (speed-accuracy learning), and (2) using normal variation in initial performance to separate movement execution impairment from motor learning abnormalities. We measured motor skill learning as performance improvement in a reaching task with a speed-accuracy trade-off. We compared the performance of subjects with Huntington's disease (HD), a neurodegenerative basal ganglia disorder, to that of premanifest carriers of the HD mutation and of control subjects. The initial movements of HD subjects were less skilled (slower and/or less accurate) than those of control subjects. To factor out these differences in initial execution, we modeled the relationship between learning and baseline performance in control subjects. Subjects with HD exhibited a clear learning impairment that was not explained by differences in initial performance. These results support a role for the basal ganglia in both movement execution and motor skill learning. PMID:24312037

  5. Fundamental Movement Skills and Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Peer Comparisons and Stimulant Effects

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harvey, William J.; Reid, Greg; Grizenko, Natalie; Mbekou, Valentin; Ter-Stepanian, Marina; Joober, Ridha

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the fundamental movement skills of 22 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), from 6 to 12 years of age, to gender- and age-matched peers without ADHD and assess the effects of stimulant medication on the movement skill performance of the children with ADHD. Repeated measures analyses…

  6. Transfer of learning between unimanual and bimanual rhythmic movement coordination: transfer is a function of the task dynamic.

    PubMed

    Snapp-Childs, Winona; Wilson, Andrew D; Bingham, Geoffrey P

    2015-07-01

    Under certain conditions, learning can transfer from a trained task to an untrained version of that same task. However, it is as yet unclear what those certain conditions are or why learning transfers when it does. Coordinated rhythmic movement is a valuable model system for investigating transfer because we have a model of the underlying task dynamic that includes perceptual coupling between the limbs being coordinated. The model predicts that (1) coordinated rhythmic movements, both bimanual and unimanual, are organised with respect to relative motion information for relative phase in the coupling function, (2) unimanual is less stable than bimanual coordination because the coupling is unidirectional rather than bidirectional, and (3) learning a new coordination is primarily about learning to perceive and use the relevant information which, with equal perceptual improvement due to training, yields equal transfer of learning from bimanual to unimanual coordination and vice versa [but, given prediction (2), the resulting performance is also conditioned by the intrinsic stability of each task]. In the present study, two groups were trained to produce 90° either unimanually or bimanually, respectively, and tested in respect to learning (namely improved performance in the trained 90° coordination task and improved visual discrimination of 90°) and transfer of learning (to the other, untrained 90° coordination task). Both groups improved in the task condition in which they were trained and in their ability to visually discriminate 90°, and this learning transferred to the untrained condition. When scaled by the relative intrinsic stability of each task, transfer levels were found to be equal. The results are discussed in the context of the perception-action approach to learning and performance.

  7. Impaired Interlimb Coordination of Voluntary Leg Movements in Poststroke Hemiparesis

    PubMed Central

    Tseng, Shih-Chiao

    2010-01-01

    Appropriate interlimb coordination of the lower extremities is particularly important for a variety of functional human motor behaviors such as jumping, kicking a ball, or simply walking. Specific interlimb coordination patterns may be especially impaired after a lesion to the motor system such as stroke, yet this has not been thoroughly examined to date. The purpose of this study was to investigate the motor deficits in individuals with chronic stroke and hemiparesis when performing unilateral versus bilateral inphase versus bilateral antiphase voluntary cyclic ankle movements. We recorded ankle angular trajectories and muscle activity from the dorsiflexors and plantarflexors and compared these between subjects with stroke and a group of healthy age-matched control subjects. Results showed clear abnormalities in both the kinematics and EMG of the stroke subjects, with significant movement degradation during the antiphase task compared with either the unilateral or the inphase task. The abnormalities included prolonged cycle durations, reduced ankle excursions, decreased agonist EMG bursts, and reduced EMG modulation across movement phases. By comparison, the control group showed nearly identical performance across all task conditions. These findings suggest that stroke involving the corticospinal system projection to the leg specifically impairs one or more components of the neural circuitry involved in lower extremity interlimb coordination. The express susceptibility of the antiphase pattern to exaggerated motor deficits could contribute to functional deficits in a number of antiphase leg movement tasks, including walking. PMID:20463199

  8. Trihexyphenidyl for acute life-threatening episodes due to a dystonic movement disorder in Rett syndrome.

    PubMed

    Gika, Artemis D; Hughes, Elaine; Goyal, Sushma; Sparkes, Matthew; Lin, Jean-Pierre

    2010-02-15

    In Rett syndrome (RS), acute life-threatening episodes (ALTEs) are usually attributed to epilepsy or autonomic dysfunction but they can represent a movement disorder (MD). We describe three girls with RS who experienced ALTEs from an early age. These were long considered epileptic until video-EEG in Patients 1 and 3 revealed their non-epileptic nature. A primary dystonic mechanism was suspected and Patients 1 and 2 were treated with Trihexyphenidyl with significantly reduced frequency of the ALTEs. Patient 3 died before Trihexyphenidyl was tried. Trihexyphenidyl in RS patients with similar presentations can modify the dystonia and prevent ALTEs. (c) 2009 Movement Disorder Society.

  9. REPETITIVE TASK PRACTICE: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF CONSTRAINT-INDUCED MOVEMENT THERAPY IN STROKE

    PubMed Central

    Wolf, Steven L.; Blanton, Sarah; Baer, Heather; Breshears, Jenifer; Butler, Andrew J.

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND Constraint-induced (CI) movement therapy (also called forced use by some investigators and clinicians) has gained increasing popularity as a treatment mode for restoring function in the upper extremities of patients with stroke. The purpose of this article is to review the concept of constraint-induced movement therapy and provide a critical analysis of the existing data. REVIEW SUMMARY The evidence to date offers encouragement for the application of this procedure for patients who have some movement recovery out of synergy. Success may be contingent on patient cooperation and intense repetitive use with applications of retraining through practice and shaping. The extent to which each of the latter elements influences the magnitude of recovery is still unclear. However, task novelty and challenge seem important to recovery of function. There are several methods used to map cortical changes after stroke. At this time, transcranial magnetic stimulation is the primary vehicle used to assess motor cortical reorganization after CI therapy in humans. CONCLUSIONS Accumulating data indicate that the size of a cortical area representative of a muscle does expand and its center of gravity does change with CI therapy. PMID:12801434

  10. Focal dystonia of right hand with mirror movements upon use of left arm.

    PubMed

    Rana, Abdul Qayyum; Athar, Aysha

    2013-05-01

    Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by sustained muscle contractions, causing twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures of affected body parts. Here, we present a novel case of focal dystonia of a 51 years old right-handed woman who had developed difficulty in writing and performing fine motor tasks. Due to a discomfort in her right hand at use, she started using her left hand instead and noticed inconsistent mirror movements in her right hand upon use of left hand. She was treated with trihexyphenidyl which allowed her right hand to function better, though writing still remained a problem.

  11. Predictive classification of self-paced upper-limb analytical movements with EEG.

    PubMed

    Ibáñez, Jaime; Serrano, J I; del Castillo, M D; Minguez, J; Pons, J L

    2015-11-01

    The extent to which the electroencephalographic activity allows the characterization of movements with the upper limb is an open question. This paper describes the design and validation of a classifier of upper-limb analytical movements based on electroencephalographic activity extracted from intervals preceding self-initiated movement tasks. Features selected for the classification are subject specific and associated with the movement tasks. Further tests are performed to reject the hypothesis that other information different from the task-related cortical activity is being used by the classifiers. Six healthy subjects were measured performing self-initiated upper-limb analytical movements. A Bayesian classifier was used to classify among seven different kinds of movements. Features considered covered the alpha and beta bands. A genetic algorithm was used to optimally select a subset of features for the classification. An average accuracy of 62.9 ± 7.5% was reached, which was above the baseline level observed with the proposed methodology (30.2 ± 4.3%). The study shows how the electroencephalography carries information about the type of analytical movement performed with the upper limb and how it can be decoded before the movement begins. In neurorehabilitation environments, this information could be used for monitoring and assisting purposes.

  12. Exogenous melatonin in periodic limb movement disorder: an open clinical trial and a hypothesis.

    PubMed

    Kunz, D; Bes, F

    2001-03-15

    The etiology of Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) as well as the precise role of melatonin in human physiology remains poorly understood. Inspired by a single case observation we performed the presented study in order to obtain first evidence for the hypothesis that exogenous melatonin would decrease PLM's and thereby improves symptoms of PLMD patients. N/A. N/A. Nine patients with first time diagnosis of PLMD without RLS were treated over a six-week period with 3 mg melatonin, taken between 10 and 11 p.m. N/A. Melatonin improved well-being in 7 of the 9 patients. Polysomnography, performed prior and at the end of melatonin treatment, demonstrated a significant reduction of investigated movement parameters, such as PLMs, PLM index, PLMs with arousals and PLM-arousal index. Actigraphy, measured over 14 nights prior and during the last 14 days of melatonin treatment, showed a significant reduction in movement rate and minutes with movements during Time in Bed. The temporal distribution of PLMs, as well as the coupling of PLMs with the phase position of circadian temperature curve, suggest an involvement of the circadian timing system in the pathophysiology of PLMD. Locomotor activity in animals clearly exhibits a circadian pattern and can be strongly influenced by exogenous melatonin. Results suggest a chronobiotic effect of exogenous melatonin in PLMD. More specifically, we hypothesize that the mode of action of melatonin in the presented PLMD patients might have been an increase of output-amplitude of the circadian timing system, thereby enhancing the circadian rhythmicity of locomotor activity with a reduction of sleep motor activity.

  13. Eye-Movement Patterns Are Associated with Communicative Competence in Autistic Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Norbury, Courtenay Frazier; Brock, Jon; Cragg, Lucy; Einav, Shiri; Griffiths, Helen; Nation, Kate

    2009-01-01

    Background: Investigations using eye-tracking have reported reduced fixations to salient social cues such as eyes when participants with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) view social scenes. However, these studies have not distinguished different cognitive phenotypes. Methods: The eye-movements of 28 teenagers with ASD and 18 typically developing…

  14. Just a scary dream? A brief review of sleep terrors, nightmares, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder.

    PubMed

    Haupt, Mark; Sheldon, Stephen H; Loghmanee, Darius

    2013-10-01

    The clinical spectrum of sleep disorders in children is broad, ranging from primary snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome to complex sleep-related behaviors and movement disorders. Although snoring and OSA typically receive significant attention and discussion, other biologically based sleep disorders are as common, if not more common, in children. A general pediatrician is frequently presented with the complaint of sleep talking, sleep walking, or abnormal movements during sleep. Even more alarming is the presentation of the child suddenly and explosively screaming during sleep. Such complaints fall under the category of parasomnias. Exclusive to sleep and wake-to-sleep transitions, these parasomnias include arousals with abnormal motor, behavioral, autonomic, or sensory symptoms. Parasomnias can be noticeably dissimilar in clinical manifestations, but most share biologic characteristics. Three parasomnias associated with loud vocalizations associated with sleep that can present to general practitioners include sleep terrors, nightmares, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Although usually benign, these sleep disorders can be disruptive and even potentially dangerous to the patient and can often be threatening to quality of life. In this article, we describe the clinical features of some of these disorders and how to differentiate between their alarming presentations. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

  15. Content specificity of attentional bias to threat in post-traumatic stress disorder.

    PubMed

    Zinchenko, A; Al-Amin, M M; Alam, M M; Mahmud, W; Kabir, N; Reza, H M; Burne, T H J

    2017-08-01

    Attentional bias to affective information and reduced cognitive control may maintain the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and impair cognitive functioning. However, the role of content specificity of affective stimuli (e.g., trauma-related, emotional trauma-unrelated) in the observed attentional bias and cognitive control is less clear, as this has not been tested simultaneously before. Therefore, we examined the content specificity of attentional bias to threat in PTSD. PTSD participants (survivors of a multistory factory collapse, n=30) and matched controls (n=30) performed an Eriksen Flanker task. They identified the direction of a centrally presented target arrow, which was flanked by several task-irrelevant distractor arrows pointed to the same (congruent) or opposite direction (incongruent). Additionally, participants were presented with a picture of a face (neutral, emotional) or building (neutral=normal, emotional=collapsed multistory factory) as a task-irrelevant background image. We found that PTSD participants produced overall larger conflict effects and longer reaction times (RT) to emotional than to neutral stimuli relative to their healthy counterparts. Moreover, PTSD, but not healthy participants showed a stimulus specific dissociation in processing emotional stimuli. Emotional faces elicited longer RTs compared to neutral faces, while emotional buildings elicited faster responses, compared to neutral buildings. PTSD patients show a content-sensitive attentional bias to emotional information and impaired cognitive control. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Discrepancy of performance among working memory-related tasks in autism spectrum disorders was caused by task characteristics, apart from working memory, which could interfere with task execution.

    PubMed

    Nakahachi, Takayuki; Iwase, Masao; Takahashi, Hidetoshi; Honaga, Eiko; Sekiyama, Ryuji; Ukai, Satoshi; Ishii, Ryouhei; Ishigami, Wataru; Kajimoto, Osami; Yamashita, Ko; Hashimoto, Ryota; Tanii, Hisashi; Shimizu, Akira; Takeda, Masatoshi

    2006-06-01

    Working memory performance has been inconsistently reported in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Several studies in ASD have found normal performance in digit span and poor performance in digit symbol task although these are closely related with working memory. It is assumed that poor performance in digit symbol could be explained by confirmatory behavior, which is induced due to the vague memory representation of number-symbol association. Therefore it was hypothesized that the performance of working memory task, in which vagueness did not cause confirmatory behavior, would be normal in ASD. For this purpose, the Advanced Trail Making Test (ATMT) was used. The performance of digit span, digit symbol and ATMT was compared between ASD and normal control. The digit span, digit symbol and ATMT was given to 16 ASD subjects and 28 IQ-, age- and sex-matched control subjects. The scores of these tasks were compared. A significantly lower score for ASD was found only in digit symbol compared with control subjects. There were no significant difference in digit span and working memory estimated by ATMT. Discrepancy of scores among working memory-related tasks was demonstrated in ASD. Poor digit symbol performance, normal digit span and normal working memory in ATMT implied that ASD subjects would be intact in working memory itself, and that superficial working memory dysfunction might be observed due to confirmatory behavior in digit symbol. Therefore, to evaluate working memory in ASD, tasks that could stimulate psychopathology specific to ASD should be avoided.

  17. Human-centric predictive model of task difficulty for human-in-the-loop control tasks

    PubMed Central

    Majewicz Fey, Ann

    2018-01-01

    Quantitatively measuring the difficulty of a manipulation task in human-in-the-loop control systems is ill-defined. Currently, systems are typically evaluated through task-specific performance measures and post-experiment user surveys; however, these methods do not capture the real-time experience of human users. In this study, we propose to analyze and predict the difficulty of a bivariate pointing task, with a haptic device interface, using human-centric measurement data in terms of cognition, physical effort, and motion kinematics. Noninvasive sensors were used to record the multimodal response of human user for 14 subjects performing the task. A data-driven approach for predicting task difficulty was implemented based on several task-independent metrics. We compare four possible models for predicting task difficulty to evaluated the roles of the various types of metrics, including: (I) a movement time model, (II) a fusion model using both physiological and kinematic metrics, (III) a model only with kinematic metrics, and (IV) a model only with physiological metrics. The results show significant correlation between task difficulty and the user sensorimotor response. The fusion model, integrating user physiology and motion kinematics, provided the best estimate of task difficulty (R2 = 0.927), followed by a model using only kinematic metrics (R2 = 0.921). Both models were better predictors of task difficulty than the movement time model (R2 = 0.847), derived from Fitt’s law, a well studied difficulty model for human psychomotor control. PMID:29621301

  18. The relationship between general measures of fitness, passive range of motion and whole-body movement quality.

    PubMed

    Frost, David; Andersen, Jordan; Lam, Thomas; Finlay, Tim; Darby, Kevin; McGill, Stuart

    2013-01-01

    The goal of this study was to establish relationships between fitness (torso endurance, grip strength and pull-ups), hip range of motion (ROM) (extension, flexion, internal and external rotation) and movement quality in an occupational group with physical work demands. Fifty-three men from the emergency task force of a major city police force were investigated. The movement screen comprised standing and seated posture, gait, segmental spine motion and 14 tasks designed to challenge whole-body coordination. Relationships were established between each whole-body movement task, the measures of strength, endurance and ROM. In general, fitness and ROM were not strongly related to the movement quality of any task. This has implications for worker training, in that strategies developed to improve ROM or strength about a joint may not enhance movement quality. Worker-centered injury prevention can be described as fitting workers to tasks by improving fitness and modifying movement patterns; however, the current results show weak correlations between strength, endurance and ROM, and the way individuals move. Therefore, the development of occupation-specific injury prevention strategies may require both fitness and movement-oriented objectives.

  19. Do Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders Compensate in Naturalistic Prospective Memory Tasks?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Altgassen, Mareike; Koban, Nancy; Kliegel, Matthias

    2012-01-01

    The present study is the first to directly compare event- and time-based prospective memory in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) using a contextual task mirroring real life demands of prospective memory. Twenty-five individuals with ASD and 25 age- and ability-matched controls completed the Dresden Breakfast task which required participants to…

  20. A report on older-age bipolar disorder from the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Task Force

    PubMed Central

    Sajatovic, Martha; Strejilevich, Sergio A; Gildengers, Ariel G; Dols, Annemiek; Al Jurdi, Rayan K; Forester, Brent P; Kessing, Lars Vedel; Beyer, John; Manes, Facundo; Rej, Soham; Rosa, Adriane R; Schouws, Sigfried NTM; Tsai, Shang-Ying; Young, Robert C; Shulman, Kenneth I

    2015-01-01

    Objectives In the coming generation, older adults with bipolar disorder (BD) will increase in absolute numbers as well as proportion of the general population. This is the first report of the International Society for Bipolar Disorder (ISBD) Task Force on Older-Age Bipolar Disorder (OABD). Methods This task force report addresses the unique aspects of OABD including epidemiology and clinical features, neuropathology and biomarkers, physical health, cognition, and care approaches. Results The report describes an expert consensus summary on OABD that is intended to advance the care of patients, and shed light on issues of relevance to BD research across the lifespan. Although there is still a dearth of research and health efforts focused on older adults with BD, emerging data has brought some answers, innovative questions, and novel perspectives related to the notion of late onset, medical comorbidity, and the vexing issue of cognitive impairment and decline. Conclusions Improving our understanding of the biological, clinical, and social underpinnings relevant to OABD is an indispensable step in building a complete map of BD across the lifespan. PMID:26384588

  1. Cognitive-behavioral therapy induces sensorimotor and specific electrocortical changes in chronic tic and Tourette's disorder.

    PubMed

    Morand-Beaulieu, Simon; O'Connor, Kieron P; Sauvé, Geneviève; Blanchet, Pierre J; Lavoie, Marc E

    2015-12-01

    Tic disorders, such as the Gilles de la Tourette syndrome and persistent tic disorder, are neurodevelopmental movement disorders involving impaired motor control. Hence, patients show repetitive unwanted muscular contractions in one or more parts of the body. A cognitive-behavioral therapy, with a particular emphasis on the psychophysiology of tic expression and sensorimotor activation, can reduce the frequency and intensity of tics. However, its impact on motor activation and inhibition is not fully understood. To study the effects of a cognitive-behavioral therapy on electrocortical activation, we recorded the event-related potentials (ERP) and lateralized readiness potentials (LRP), before and after treatment, of 20 patients with tic disorders and 20 healthy control participants (matched on age, sex and intelligence), during a stimulus-response compatibility inhibition task. The cognitive-behavioral therapy included informational, awareness training, relaxation, muscle discrimination, cognitive restructuration and relapse prevention strategies. Our results revealed that prior to treatment; tic patients had delayed stimulus-locked LRP onset latency, larger response-locked LRP peak amplitude, and a frontal overactivation during stimulus inhibition processing. Both stimulus-locked LRP onset latency and response-locked LRP peak amplitude normalized after the cognitive behavioral therapy completion. However, the frontal overactivation related to inhibition remained unchanged following therapy. Our results showed that P300 and reaction times are sensitive to stimulus-response compatibility, but are not related to tic symptoms. Secondly, overactivity of the frontal LPC and impulsivity in TD patients were not affected by treatment. Finally, CBT had normalizing effects on the activation of the pre-motor and motor cortex in TD patients. These results imply specific modifications of motor processes following therapy, while inhibition processes remained unchanged. Given

  2. Two-photon imaging of neuronal activity in motor cortex of marmosets during upper-limb movement tasks.

    PubMed

    Ebina, Teppei; Masamizu, Yoshito; Tanaka, Yasuhiro R; Watakabe, Akiya; Hirakawa, Reiko; Hirayama, Yuka; Hira, Riichiro; Terada, Shin-Ichiro; Koketsu, Daisuke; Hikosaka, Kazuo; Mizukami, Hiroaki; Nambu, Atsushi; Sasaki, Erika; Yamamori, Tetsuo; Matsuzaki, Masanori

    2018-05-14

    Two-photon imaging in behaving animals has revealed neuronal activities related to behavioral and cognitive function at single-cell resolution. However, marmosets have posed a challenge due to limited success in training on motor tasks. Here we report the development of protocols to train head-fixed common marmosets to perform upper-limb movement tasks and simultaneously perform two-photon imaging. After 2-5 months of training sessions, head-fixed marmosets can control a manipulandum to move a cursor to a target on a screen. We conduct two-photon calcium imaging of layer 2/3 neurons in the motor cortex during this motor task performance, and detect task-relevant activity from multiple neurons at cellular and subcellular resolutions. In a two-target reaching task, some neurons show direction-selective activity over the training days. In a short-term force-field adaptation task, some neurons change their activity when the force field is on. Two-photon calcium imaging in behaving marmosets may become a fundamental technique for determining the spatial organization of the cortical dynamics underlying action and cognition.

  3. Investigating executive functions in children with severe speech and movement disorders using structured tasks.

    PubMed

    Stadskleiv, Kristine; von Tetzchner, Stephen; Batorowicz, Beata; van Balkom, Hans; Dahlgren-Sandberg, Annika; Renner, Gregor

    2014-01-01

    Executive functions are the basis for goal-directed activity and include planning, monitoring, and inhibition, and language seems to play a role in the development of these functions. There is a tradition of studying executive function in both typical and atypical populations, and the present study investigates executive functions in children with severe speech and motor impairments who are communicating using communication aids with graphic symbols, letters, and/or words. There are few neuropsychological studies of children in this group and little is known about their cognitive functioning, including executive functions. It was hypothesized that aided communication would tax executive functions more than speech. Twenty-nine children using communication aids and 27 naturally speaking children participated. Structured tasks resembling everyday activities, where the action goals had to be reached through communication with a partner, were used to get information about executive functions. The children (a) directed the partner to perform actions like building a Lego tower from a model the partner could not see and (b) gave information about an object without naming it to a person who had to guess what object it was. The executive functions of planning, monitoring, and impulse control were coded from the children's on-task behavior. Both groups solved most of the tasks correctly, indicating that aided communicators are able to use language to direct another person to do a complex set of actions. Planning and lack of impulsivity was positively related to task success in both groups. The aided group completed significantly fewer tasks, spent longer time and showed more variation in performance than the comparison group. The aided communicators scored lower on planning and showed more impulsivity than the comparison group, while both groups showed an equal degree of monitoring of the work progress. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that aided language tax

  4. Investigating executive functions in children with severe speech and movement disorders using structured tasks

    PubMed Central

    Stadskleiv, Kristine; von Tetzchner, Stephen; Batorowicz, Beata; van Balkom, Hans; Dahlgren-Sandberg, Annika; Renner, Gregor

    2014-01-01

    Executive functions are the basis for goal-directed activity and include planning, monitoring, and inhibition, and language seems to play a role in the development of these functions. There is a tradition of studying executive function in both typical and atypical populations, and the present study investigates executive functions in children with severe speech and motor impairments who are communicating using communication aids with graphic symbols, letters, and/or words. There are few neuropsychological studies of children in this group and little is known about their cognitive functioning, including executive functions. It was hypothesized that aided communication would tax executive functions more than speech. Twenty-nine children using communication aids and 27 naturally speaking children participated. Structured tasks resembling everyday activities, where the action goals had to be reached through communication with a partner, were used to get information about executive functions. The children (a) directed the partner to perform actions like building a Lego tower from a model the partner could not see and (b) gave information about an object without naming it to a person who had to guess what object it was. The executive functions of planning, monitoring, and impulse control were coded from the children's on-task behavior. Both groups solved most of the tasks correctly, indicating that aided communicators are able to use language to direct another person to do a complex set of actions. Planning and lack of impulsivity was positively related to task success in both groups. The aided group completed significantly fewer tasks, spent longer time and showed more variation in performance than the comparison group. The aided communicators scored lower on planning and showed more impulsivity than the comparison group, while both groups showed an equal degree of monitoring of the work progress. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that aided language tax

  5. Fundamental movement skills and children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: peer comparisons and stimulant effects.

    PubMed

    Harvey, William J; Reid, Greg; Grizenko, Natalie; Mbekou, Valentin; Ter-Stepanian, Marina; Joober, Ridha

    2007-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the fundamental movement skills of 22 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), from 6 to 12 years of age, to gender- and age-matched peers without ADHD and assess the effects of stimulant medication on the movement skill performance of the children with ADHD. Repeated measures analyses revealed significant skill differences between children with and without ADHD (p movement skill patterns of children with ADHD. It is concluded that children with ADHD may be at risk for developmental delays in movement skill performance. Potential factors underlying the movement skill difficulties are discussed, with suggestions for future research.

  6. Looking to Score: The Dissociation of Goal Influence on Eye Movement and Meta-Attentional Allocation in a Complex Dynamic Natural Scene

    PubMed Central

    Taya, Shuichiro; Windridge, David; Osman, Magda

    2012-01-01

    Several studies have reported that task instructions influence eye-movement behavior during static image observation. In contrast, during dynamic scene observation we show that while the specificity of the goal of a task influences observers’ beliefs about where they look, the goal does not in turn influence eye-movement patterns. In our study observers watched short video clips of a single tennis match and were asked to make subjective judgments about the allocation of visual attention to the items presented in the clip (e.g., ball, players, court lines, and umpire). However, before attending to the clips, observers were either told to simply watch clips (non-specific goal), or they were told to watch the clips with a view to judging which of the two tennis players was awarded the point (specific goal). The results of subjective reports suggest that observers believed that they allocated their attention more to goal-related items (e.g. court lines) if they performed the goal-specific task. However, we did not find the effect of goal specificity on major eye-movement parameters (i.e., saccadic amplitudes, inter-saccadic intervals, and gaze coherence). We conclude that the specificity of a task goal can alter observer’s beliefs about their attention allocation strategy, but such task-driven meta-attentional modulation does not necessarily correlate with eye-movement behavior. PMID:22768058

  7. Transfer of training between distinct motor tasks after stroke: Implications for task- specific approaches to upper extremity neurorehabilitation

    PubMed Central

    Schaefer, Sydney Y.; Patterson, Chavelle B.; Lang, Catherine E.

    2013-01-01

    Background Although task-specific training is emerging as a viable approach for recovering motor function after stroke, there is little evidence for whether the effects of such training transfer to other functional motor tasks not directly practiced in therapy. Objective The purpose of the current study was to test whether training on one motor task would transfer to untrained tasks that were either spatiotemporally similar or different in individuals with chronic hemiparesis post-stroke. Methods Eleven participants with chronic mild-to-moderate hemiparesis following stroke completed five days of supervised massed practice of a feeding task with their affected side. Performance on the feeding task, along with two other untrained functional upper extremity motor tasks (sorting, dressing) was assessed before and after training. Results Performance of all three tasks improved significantly after training exclusively on one motor task. The amount of improvement in the untrained tasks was comparable, and was not dependent on the degree of similarity to the trained task. Conclusions Because the number and type of tasks that can be practiced are often limited within standard stroke rehabilitation, results from this study will be useful for designing task-specific training plans to maximize therapy benefits. PMID:23549521

  8. Transfer of training between distinct motor tasks after stroke: implications for task-specific approaches to upper-extremity neurorehabilitation.

    PubMed

    Schaefer, Sydney Y; Patterson, Chavelle B; Lang, Catherine E

    2013-09-01

    Although task-specific training is emerging as a viable approach for recovering motor function after stroke, there is little evidence for whether the effects of such training transfer to other functional motor tasks not directly practiced in therapy. The purpose of the current study was to test whether training on one motor task in individuals with chronic hemiparesis poststroke would transfer to untrained tasks that were either spatiotemporally similar or different. In all, 11 participants with chronic mild to moderate hemiparesis following stroke completed 5 days of supervised massed practice of a feeding task with their affected side. Performance on the feeding task, along with 2 other untrained functional upper-extremity motor tasks (sorting, dressing) was assessed before and after training. Performance of all 3 tasks improved significantly after training exclusively on 1 motor task. The amount of improvement in the untrained tasks was comparable and was not dependent on the degree of similarity to the trained task. Because the number and type of tasks that can be practiced are often limited within standard stroke rehabilitation, results from this study will be useful for designing task-specific training plans to maximize therapy benefits.

  9. Specificity of postural sway to the demands of a precision task at sea.

    PubMed

    Chen, Fu-Chen; Stoffregen, Thomas A

    2012-06-01

    Mariners actively adjust their body orientation in response to ship motion. On a ship at sea, we evaluated relations between standing postural activity and the performance of a precision aiming task. Standing participants (experienced mariners) maintained the beam from a handheld laser on a target. Targets were large or small, thereby varying the difficulty of the aiming task. Targets were located in front of the participant or to the participant's right (requiring participants to look over the right shoulder), thereby varying the functional consequences (for the aiming task) of postural activity in different body axes. The torso was oriented toward the bow or toward the ship's side (athwartship), thereby varying the effects on postural activity of differential motion of the ship in its different axes. The weather was rough, producing high magnitudes of ship motion, which sometimes caused participants to step or stagger. Our manipulations influenced the magnitude and dynamics of head and torso movements, as well as the organization of movement in different axes. The results provide the first empirical confirmation that postural activity can be influenced by orientation of the torso relative to a ship. Despite powerful effects of ship motion, postural activity was influenced by variations in target location and in the difficulty of the aiming task, replicating subtle effects that have been observed on land. We discuss implications for hull design and the placement of workstations on ships.

  10. Lévy-like diffusion in eye movements during spoken-language comprehension.

    PubMed

    Stephen, Damian G; Mirman, Daniel; Magnuson, James S; Dixon, James A

    2009-05-01

    This study explores the diffusive properties of human eye movements during a language comprehension task. In this task, adults are given auditory instructions to locate named objects on a computer screen. Although it has been convention to model visual search as standard Brownian diffusion, we find evidence that eye movements are hyperdiffusive. Specifically, we use comparisons of maximum-likelihood fit as well as standard deviation analysis and diffusion entropy analysis to show that visual search during language comprehension exhibits Lévy-like rather than Gaussian diffusion.

  11. Lévy-like diffusion in eye movements during spoken-language comprehension

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stephen, Damian G.; Mirman, Daniel; Magnuson, James S.; Dixon, James A.

    2009-05-01

    This study explores the diffusive properties of human eye movements during a language comprehension task. In this task, adults are given auditory instructions to locate named objects on a computer screen. Although it has been convention to model visual search as standard Brownian diffusion, we find evidence that eye movements are hyperdiffusive. Specifically, we use comparisons of maximum-likelihood fit as well as standard deviation analysis and diffusion entropy analysis to show that visual search during language comprehension exhibits Lévy-like rather than Gaussian diffusion.

  12. A Novel Task for the Investigation of Action Acquisition

    PubMed Central

    Stafford, Tom; Thirkettle, Martin; Walton, Tom; Vautrelle, Nicolas; Hetherington, Len; Port, Michael; Gurney, Kevin; Redgrave, Pete

    2012-01-01

    We present a behavioural task designed for the investigation of how novel instrumental actions are discovered and learnt. The task consists of free movement with a manipulandum, during which the full range of possible movements can be explored by the participant and recorded. A subset of these movements, the ‘target’, is set to trigger a reinforcing signal. The task is to discover what movements of the manipulandum evoke the reinforcement signal. Targets can be defined in spatial, temporal, or kinematic terms, can be a combination of these aspects, or can represent the concatenation of actions into a larger gesture. The task allows the study of how the specific elements of behaviour which cause the reinforcing signal are identified, refined and stored by the participant. The task provides a paradigm where the exploratory motive drives learning and as such we view it as in the tradition of Thorndike [1]. Most importantly it allows for repeated measures, since when a novel action is acquired the criterion for triggering reinforcement can be changed requiring a new action to be discovered. Here, we present data using both humans and rats as subjects, showing that our task is easily scalable in difficulty, adaptable across species, and produces a rich set of behavioural measures offering new and valuable insight into the action learning process. PMID:22675490

  13. Head and pelvic movements during a dynamic reaching task in sitting: implications for physical therapists.

    PubMed

    Campbell, F M; Ashburn, A M; Pickering, R M; Burnett, M

    2001-12-01

    To describe the distance reached, speed, and movement of the head and pelvis of healthy volunteers; to describe any influence of age on these variables; and to compare healthy volunteers and subjects with hemiplegia while performing a seated reaching task. Age-matched, case-control study. Gait laboratory in a general hospital. A convenience sample of 53 healthy volunteers (30 women; 23 men; mean age, 57yr; range, 30-79yr) and 5 subjects with hemiplegia (2 women, 3 men; mean age, 65yr; range, 60-78yr) were recruited within 6 weeks poststroke. Participants sat on a bench with feet supported and reached laterally as far as they could without falling. The speed, distance reached, and angular movements of the head and pelvis were recorded by using the 3-dimensional movement analysis system. A significant age-related reduction in the distance reached (p < .001), velocity of the movement (p =.000), and pelvic tilt used (p < .01) was found among healthy volunteers. Comparison of data from healthy volunteers and subjects with hemiplegia showed a significant reduction in the angular movements of the heads of subjects with hemiplegia. The findings suggest conservation of movement with increasing age and stroke. This movement reduction could have negative effects on a subject's ability to make postural changes in response to disturbance and activity. Such information may assist therapists to gain insight into the nature of balance deficits and the adaptive behavior that could result. Copyright 2001 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

  14. Effects of distractors and force feedback on an aimed movement task in a CDTI environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Monk, Kevin J., II

    New onboard technologies will be required for future cockpits to support the altered responsibilities of pilots under the NextGen program. Effective Cockpit Displays of Information (CD Tis) should provide more flexibility to pilots en route and reduce the probability of conflicts. However, precise input from pilots can be difficult due to the unstable environment in the cockpit. The present study used a non-traditional input device (Novint Falcon) to examine the effect of force feedback on operator performance during point-and-click movements in a CDTI environment when distractors are present. Twelve participants performed point-and-click tasks with varying amounts of force feedback, distractor locations, target sizes, distances, and movement directions. Overall movement times (OMTs) were recorded. Results demonstrated that force feedback did not reduce or match OMTs relative to the computer mouse. However, significant interactions with other target variables highlighted conditional differences between the force levels, as well as distractor effects.

  15. Mutations in the mitochondrial cysteinyl-tRNA synthase gene, CARS2, lead to a severe epileptic encephalopathy and complex movement disorder.

    PubMed

    Coughlin, Curtis R; Scharer, Gunter H; Friederich, Marisa W; Yu, Hung-Chun; Geiger, Elizabeth A; Creadon-Swindell, Geralyn; Collins, Abigail E; Vanlander, Arnaud V; Coster, Rudy Van; Powell, Christopher A; Swanson, Michael A; Minczuk, Michal; Van Hove, Johan L K; Shaikh, Tamim H

    2015-08-01

    Mitochondrial disease is often suspected in cases of severe epileptic encephalopathy especially when a complex movement disorder, liver involvement and progressive developmental regression are present. Although mutations in either mitochondrial DNA or POLG are often present, other nuclear defects in mitochondrial DNA replication and protein translation have been associated with a severe epileptic encephalopathy. We identified a proband with an epileptic encephalopathy, complex movement disorder and a combined mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme deficiency. The child presented with neurological regression, complex movement disorder and intractable seizures. A combined deficiency of mitochondrial complexes I, III and IV was noted in liver tissue, along with increased mitochondrial DNA content in skeletal muscle. Incomplete assembly of complex V, using blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analysis and complex I, using western blotting, suggested a disorder of mitochondrial transcription or translation. Exome sequencing identified compound heterozygous mutations in CARS2, a mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase. Both mutations affect highly conserved amino acids located within the functional ligase domain of the cysteinyl-tRNA synthase. A specific decrease in the amount of charged mt-tRNA(Cys) was detected in patient fibroblasts compared with controls. Retroviral transfection of the wild-type CARS2 into patient skin fibroblasts led to the correction of the incomplete assembly of complex V, providing functional evidence for the role of CARS2 mutations in disease aetiology. Our findings indicate that mutations in CARS2 result in a mitochondrial translational defect as seen in individuals with mitochondrial epileptic encephalopathy. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  16. Neuromotor Task Training for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Controlled Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Niemeijer, A. S.; Smits-Engelsman, B. C. M.; Schoemaker, M. M.

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate neuromotor task training (NTT), a recently developed child-centred and task-oriented treatment programme for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). A treatment and a non-treatment control group of children with DCD were included. Children were selected if they scored below the 15th centile on…

  17. The effectiveness of robotic training depends on motor task characteristics.

    PubMed

    Marchal-Crespo, Laura; Rappo, Nicole; Riener, Robert

    2017-12-01

    Previous research suggests that the effectiveness of robotic training depends on the motor task to be learned. However, it is still an open question which specific task's characteristics influence the efficacy of error-modulating training strategies. Motor tasks can be classified based on the time characteristics of the task, in particular the task's duration (discrete vs. continuous). Continuous tasks require movements without distinct beginning or end. Discrete tasks require fast movements that include well-defined postures at the beginning and the end. We developed two games, one that requires a continuous movement-a tracking task-and one that requires discrete movements-a fast reaching task. We conducted an experiment with thirty healthy subjects to evaluate the effectiveness of three error-modulating training strategies-no guidance, error amplification (i.e., repulsive forces proportional to errors) and haptic guidance-on self-reported motivation and learning of the continuous and discrete games. Training with error amplification resulted in better motor learning than haptic guidance, besides the fact that error amplification reduced subjects' interest/enjoyment and perceived competence during training. Only subjects trained with error amplification improved their performance after training the discrete game. In fact, subjects trained without guidance improved the performance in the continuous game significantly more than in the discrete game, probably because the continuous task required greater attentional levels. Error-amplifying training strategies have a great potential to provoke better motor learning in continuous and discrete tasks. However, their long-lasting negative effects on motivation might limit their applicability in intense neurorehabilitation programs.

  18. Attention control in mood and anxiety disorders: evidence from the antisaccade task.

    PubMed

    Ainsworth, Ben; Garner, Matthew

    2013-05-01

    The antisaccade task (in which participants must suppress a reflexive saccade towards a sudden, peripheral stimulus and generate a volitional saccade in the opposite direction) is considered a measure of cognitive inhibition. The task has been used to examine cognitive control deficits in several neuropsychiatric conditions, most notably schizophrenia. This commentary summarizes recent evidence from antisaccade tasks in mood and anxiety disorders, with reference to neuropsychological models and psychopharmacological mechanisms. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  19. Schizotypy and smooth pursuit eye movements as potential endophenotypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    PubMed

    Bey, Katharina; Meyhöfer, Inga; Lennertz, Leonhard; Grützmann, Rosa; Heinzel, Stephan; Kaufmann, Christian; Klawohn, Julia; Riesel, Anja; Ettinger, Ulrich; Kathmann, Norbert; Wagner, Michael

    2018-05-02

    Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) show dysfunctions of the fronto-striatal circuitry, which imply corresponding oculomotor deficits including smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM). However, evidence for a deficit in SPEM is inconclusive, with some studies reporting reduced velocity gain while others did not find any SPEM dysfunctions in OCD patients. Interestingly, psychosis-like traits have repeatedly been linked to both OCD and impaired SPEM. Here, we examined a large sample of n = 168 patients with OCD, n = 93 unaffected first-degree relatives and n = 171 healthy control subjects to investigate whether elevated levels of schizotypy and SPEM deficits represent potential endophenotypes of OCD. We applied a SPEM task with high demands on predictive pursuit that is more sensitive to assess executive dysfunctions than a standard task with continuous visual feedback, as episodes of target blanking put increased demands on basal ganglia and prefrontal involvement. Additionally, we examined the relation between schizotypy and SPEM performance in OCD patients and their relatives. Results indicate that OCD patients and unaffected relatives do not show deficient performance in either standard or predictive SPEM. Yet, both patients and relatives exhibited elevated levels of schizotypy, and schizotypy was significantly correlated with velocity gain during standard trials in unmedicated and depression-free OCD patients. These findings highlight the role of schizotypy as a candidate endophenotype of OCD and add to the growing evidence for predisposing personality traits in OCD. Furthermore, intact gain may represent a key characteristic that distinguishes the OCD and schizophrenia patient populations.

  20. Exploratory eye movements to pictures in childhood-onset schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

    PubMed

    Karatekin, C; Asarnow, R F

    1999-02-01

    We investigated exploratory eye movements to thematic pictures in schizophrenic, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and normal children. For each picture, children were asked three questions varying in amount of structure. We tested if schizophrenic children would stare or scan extensively and if their scan patterns were differentially affected by the question. Time spent viewing relevant and irrelevant regions, fixation duration (an estimate of processing rate), and distance between fixations (an estimate of breadth of attention) were measured. ADHD children showed a trend toward shorter fixations than normals on the question requiring the most detailed analysis. Schizophrenic children looked at fewer relevant, but not more irrelevant, regions than normals. They showed a tendency to stare more when asked to decide what was happening but not when asked to attend to specific regions. Thus, lower levels of visual attention (e.g., basic control of eye movements) were intact in schizophrenic children. In contrast, they had difficulty with top-down control of selective attention in the service of self-guided behavior.

  1. Brain activation in teenagers with isolated spelling disorder during tasks involving spelling assessment and comparison of pseudowords. fMRI study.

    PubMed

    Borkowska, Aneta Rita; Francuz, Piotr; Soluch, Paweł; Wolak, Tomasz

    2014-10-01

    The present study aimed at defining the specific traits of brain activation in teenagers with isolated spelling disorder in comparison with good spellers. fMRI examination was performed where the subject's task involved taking a decision 1/whether the visually presented words were spelled correctly or not (the orthographic decision task), and 2/whether the two presented letters strings (pseudowords) were identical or not (the visual decision task). Half of the displays showing meaningful words with an orthographic difficulty contained pairs with both words spelled correctly, and half of them contained one misspelled word. Half of the pseudowords were identical, half of them were not. The participants of the study included 15 individuals with isolated spelling disorder and 14 good spellers, aged 13-15. The results demonstrated that the essential differences in brain activation between teenagers with isolated spelling disorder and good spellers were found in the left inferior frontal gyrus, left medial frontal gyrus and right cerebellum posterior lobe, i.e. structures important for language processes, working memory and automaticity of behaviour. Spelling disorder is not only an effect of language dysfunction, it could be a symptom of difficulties in learning and automaticity of motor and visual shapes of written words, rapid information processing as well as automating use of orthographic lexicon. Copyright © 2013 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Increased Attentional Focus Modulates Eye Movements in a Mixed Antisaccade Task for Younger and Older Adults

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Jingxin; Tian, Jing; Wang, Rong; Benson, Valerie

    2013-01-01

    We examined performance in the antisaccade task for younger and older adults by comparing latencies and errors in what we defined as high attentional focus (mixed antisaccades and prosaccades in the same block) and low attentional focus (antisaccades and prosaccades in separate blocks) conditions. Shorter saccade latencies for correctly executed eye movements were observed for both groups in mixed, compared to blocked, antisaccade tasks, but antisaccade error rates were higher for older participants across both conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the inhibitory hypothesis, the goal neglect theory and attentional control theory. PMID:23620767

  3. To Pass or Not to Pass: Modeling the Movement and Affordance Dynamics of a Pick and Place Task

    PubMed Central

    Lamb, Maurice; Kallen, Rachel W.; Harrison, Steven J.; Di Bernardo, Mario; Minai, Ali; Richardson, Michael J.

    2017-01-01

    Humans commonly engage in tasks that require or are made more efficient by coordinating with other humans. In this paper we introduce a task dynamics approach for modeling multi-agent interaction and decision making in a pick and place task where an agent must move an object from one location to another and decide whether to act alone or with a partner. Our aims were to identify and model (1) the affordance related dynamics that define an actor's choice to move an object alone or to pass it to their co-actor and (2) the trajectory dynamics of an actor's hand movements when moving to grasp, relocate, or pass the object. Using a virtual reality pick and place task, we demonstrate that both the decision to pass or not pass an object and the movement trajectories of the participants can be characterized in terms of a behavioral dynamics model. Simulations suggest that the proposed behavioral dynamics model exhibits features observed in human participants including hysteresis in decision making, non-straight line trajectories, and non-constant velocity profiles. The proposed model highlights how the same low-dimensional behavioral dynamics can operate to constrain multiple (and often nested) levels of human activity and suggests that knowledge of what, when, where and how to move or act during pick and place behavior may be defined by these low dimensional task dynamics and, thus, can emerge spontaneously and in real-time with little a priori planning. PMID:28701975

  4. Performance on a computerized shopping task significantly predicts real world functioning in persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

    PubMed

    Laloyaux, Julien; Pellegrini, Nadia; Mourad, Haitham; Bertrand, Hervé; Domken, Marc-André; Van der Linden, Martial; Larøi, Frank

    2013-12-15

    Persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder often suffer from cognitive impairments. However, little is known concerning how these cognitive deficits impact their real world functioning. We developed a computerized real-life activity task, where participants are required to shop for a list of grocery store items. Twenty one individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder and 21 matched healthy controls were administered the computerized shopping task. Moreover, the patient group was assessed with a battery of cognitive tests and clinical scales. Performance on the shopping task significantly differentiated patients and healthy controls for two variables: Total time to complete the shopping task and Mean time spent to consult the shopping list. Moreover, in the patient group, performance on these variables from the shopping task correlated significantly with cognitive functioning (i.e. processing speed, verbal episodic memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition) and with clinical variables including duration of illness and real world functioning. Finally, variables from the shopping task were found to significantly explain 41% of real world functioning of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. These findings suggest that the shopping task provides a good indication of real world functioning and cognitive functioning of persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Verification of models for ballistic movement time and endpoint variability.

    PubMed

    Lin, Ray F; Drury, Colin G

    2013-01-01

    A hand control movement is composed of several ballistic movements. The time required in performing a ballistic movement and its endpoint variability are two important properties in developing movement models. The purpose of this study was to test potential models for predicting these two properties. Twelve participants conducted ballistic movements of specific amplitudes using a drawing tablet. The measured data of movement time and endpoint variability were then used to verify the models. This study was successful with Hoffmann and Gan's movement time model (Hoffmann, 1981; Gan and Hoffmann 1988) predicting more than 90.7% data variance for 84 individual measurements. A new theoretically developed ballistic movement variability model, proved to be better than Howarth, Beggs, and Bowden's (1971) model, predicting on average 84.8% of stopping-variable error and 88.3% of aiming-variable errors. These two validated models will help build solid theoretical movement models and evaluate input devices. This article provides better models for predicting end accuracy and movement time of ballistic movements that are desirable in rapid aiming tasks, such as keying in numbers on a smart phone. The models allow better design of aiming tasks, for example button sizes on mobile phones for different user populations.

  6. The Effectiveness of Transcranial Brain Stimulation in Improving Clinical Signs of Hyperkinetic Movement Disorders.

    PubMed

    Obeso, Ignacio; Cerasa, Antonio; Quattrone, Aldo

    2015-01-01

    Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a safe and painless method for stimulating cortical neurons. In neurological realm, rTMS has prevalently been applied to understand pathophysiological mechanisms underlying movement disorders. However, this tool has also the potential to be translated into a clinically applicable therapeutic use. Several available studies supported this hypothesis, but differences in protocols, clinical enrollment, and variability of rTMS effects across individuals complicate better understanding of efficient clinical protocols. The aim of this present review is to discuss to what extent the evidence provided by the therapeutic use of rTMS may be generalized. In particular, we attempted to define optimal cortical regions and stimulation protocols that have been demonstrated to maximize the effectiveness seen in the actual literature for the three most prevalent hyperkinetic movement disorders: Parkinson's disease (PD) with levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LIDs), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia. A total of 28 rTMS studies met our search criteria. Despite clinical and methodological differences, overall these studies demonstrated that therapeutic applications of rTMS to "normalize" pathologically decreased or increased levels of cortical activity have given moderate progress in patient's quality of life. Moreover, the present literature suggests that altered pathophysiology in hyperkinetic movement disorders establishes motor, premotor or cerebellar structures as candidate regions to reset cortico-subcortical pathways back to normal. Although rTMS has the potential to become a powerful tool for ameliorating the clinical outcome of hyperkinetic neurological patients, until now there is not a clear consensus on optimal protocols for these motor disorders. Well-controlled multicenter randomized clinical trials with high numbers of patients are urgently required.

  7. Tongue Movements during Water Swallowing in Healthy Young and Older Adults

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Steele, Catriona M.; Van Lieshout, Pascal

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the nature and extent of variability in tongue movement during healthy swallowing as a function of aging and gender. In addition, changes were quantified in healthy tongue movements in response to specific differences in the nature of the swallowing task (discrete vs. sequential swallows). Method:…

  8. An Investigation of Upper Limb Motor Function in High Functioning Autism and Asperger's Disorder Using a Repetitive Fitts' Aiming Task

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Papadopoulos, Nicole; McGinley, Jennifer; Tonge, Bruce J.; Bradshaw, John L.; Saunders, Kerryn; Rinehart, Nicole J.

    2012-01-01

    There is now a growing body of research examining movement difficulties in children diagnosed with high functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger's disorder (AD). Despite this, few studies have investigated the kinematic components of movement that may be disrupted in children diagnosed with these disorders. The current study investigated rapid aiming…

  9. The emotional counting Stroop: a task for assessing emotional interference during brain imaging.

    PubMed

    Whalen, Paul J; Bush, George; Shin, Lisa M; Rauch, Scott L

    2006-01-01

    The emotional counting Stroop (ecStroop) is an emotional variant of the counting Stroop. Both of these tasks require a motor response instead of a spoken response for the purpose of minimizing head movement during functional MRI (fMRI). During this task, subjects report, by button press, the number of words (1-4) that appear on a screen, regardless of word meaning. Neutral word-control trials contain common words (e.g., 'cabinet' written three times), while interference trials contain emotional words (e.g., 'murder' written three times). The degree to which this task represents a true 'Stroop' interference task, in the sense that emotional words will increase motor-response times compared with neutral words, depends upon the subjects of the study and the words that are presented. Much research on the emotional Stroop task demonstrates that interference effects are observed in psychopathological groups in response to words that are specific to their disorder, and in normal subjects when the words are related to current concerns endorsed by them. The ecStroop task described here will produce reaction time-interference effects that are comparable to the traditional color-naming emotional Stroop. This protocol can be completed in approximately 20 min per subject. The protocol described here employs neutral words and emotional words that include general-negative words, as well as words specific to combat-related trauma. However, this protocol is amenable to any emotional word lists.

  10. Multi-segmental movement patterns reflect juggling complexity and skill level.

    PubMed

    Zago, Matteo; Pacifici, Ilaria; Lovecchio, Nicola; Galli, Manuela; Federolf, Peter Andreas; Sforza, Chiarella

    2017-08-01

    The juggling action of six experts and six intermediates jugglers was recorded with a motion capture system and decomposed into its fundamental components through Principal Component Analysis. The aim was to quantify trends in movement dimensionality, multi-segmental patterns and rhythmicity as a function of proficiency level and task complexity. Dimensionality was quantified in terms of Residual Variance, while the Relative Amplitude was introduced to account for individual differences in movement components. We observed that: experience-related modifications in multi-segmental actions exist, such as the progressive reduction of error-correction movements, especially in complex task condition. The systematic identification of motor patterns sensitive to the acquisition of specific experience could accelerate the learning process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Audio-Visual Stimulation in Conjunction with Functional Electrical Stimulation to Address Upper Limb and Lower Limb Movement Disorder.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Deepesh; Verma, Sunny; Bhattacharya, Sutapa; Lahiri, Uttama

    2016-06-13

    Neurological disorders often manifest themselves in the form of movement deficit on the part of the patient. Conventional rehabilitation often used to address these deficits, though powerful are often monotonous in nature. Adequate audio-visual stimulation can prove to be motivational. In the research presented here we indicate the applicability of audio-visual stimulation to rehabilitation exercises to address at least some of the movement deficits for upper and lower limbs. Added to the audio-visual stimulation, we also use Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). In our presented research we also show the applicability of FES in conjunction with audio-visual stimulation delivered through VR-based platform for grasping skills of patients with movement disorder.

  12. Dynamic, continuous multitasking training leads to task-specific improvements but does not transfer across action selection tasks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bender, Angela D.; Filmer, Hannah L.; Naughtin, Claire K.; Dux, Paul E.

    2017-12-01

    The ability to perform multiple tasks concurrently is an ever-increasing requirement in our information-rich world. Despite this, multitasking typically compromises performance due to the processing limitations associated with cognitive control and decision-making. While intensive dual-task training is known to improve multitasking performance, only limited evidence suggests that training-related performance benefits can transfer to untrained tasks that share overlapping processes. In the real world, however, coordinating and selecting several responses within close temporal proximity will often occur in high-interference environments. Over the last decade, there have been notable reports that training on video action games that require dynamic multitasking in a demanding environment can lead to transfer effects on aspects of cognition such as attention and working memory. Here, we asked whether continuous and dynamic multitasking training extends benefits to tasks that are theoretically related to the trained tasks. To examine this issue, we asked a group of participants to train on a combined continuous visuomotor tracking task and a perceptual discrimination task for six sessions, while an active control group practiced the component tasks in isolation. A battery of tests measuring response selection, response inhibition, and spatial attention was administered before and immediately after training to investigate transfer. Multitasking training resulted in substantial, task-specific gains in dual-task ability, but there was no evidence that these benefits generalized to other action control tasks. The findings suggest that training on a combined visuomotor tracking and discrimination task results in task-specific benefits but provides no additional value for untrained action selection tasks.

  13. Perceptual Specificity Effects in Rereading: Evidence from Eye Movements

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheridan, Heather; Reingold, Eyal M.

    2012-01-01

    The present experiments examined perceptual specificity effects using a rereading paradigm. Eye movements were monitored while participants read the same target word twice, in two different low-constraint sentence frames. The congruency of perceptual processing was manipulated by either presenting the target word in the same distortion typography…

  14. Psychometric Properties of the Caregiver Assessment of Movement Participation Scale for Screening Children with Development Coordination Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tsang, Kwan Lan; Bond, Trevor; Lo, Sing Kai

    2010-01-01

    Using Rasch analysis, the psychometric properties of a newly developed 35-item parent-proxy instrument, the Caregiver Assessment of Movement Participation (CAMP), designed to measure movement participation problems in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder, were examined. The CAMP was administered to 465 school children aged 5-10 years.…

  15. Epidemiology, neurobiology and pharmacological interventions related to suicide deaths and suicide attempts in bipolar disorder: Part I of a report of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Task Force on Suicide in Bipolar Disorder.

    PubMed

    Schaffer, Ayal; Isometsä, Erkki T; Tondo, Leonardo; Moreno, Doris H; Sinyor, Mark; Kessing, Lars Vedel; Turecki, Gustavo; Weizman, Abraham; Azorin, Jean-Michel; Ha, Kyooseob; Reis, Catherine; Cassidy, Frederick; Goldstein, Tina; Rihmer, Zoltán; Beautrais, Annette; Chou, Yuan-Hwa; Diazgranados, Nancy; Levitt, Anthony J; Zarate, Carlos A; Yatham, Lakshmi

    2015-09-01

    Bipolar disorder is associated with elevated risk of suicide attempts and deaths. Key aims of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Task Force on Suicide included examining the extant literature on epidemiology, neurobiology and pharmacotherapy related to suicide attempts and deaths in bipolar disorder. Systematic review of studies from 1 January 1980 to 30 May 2014 examining suicide attempts or deaths in bipolar disorder, with a specific focus on the incidence and characterization of suicide attempts and deaths, genetic and non-genetic biological studies and pharmacotherapy studies specific to bipolar disorder. We conducted pooled, weighted analyses of suicide rates. The pooled suicide rate in bipolar disorder is 164 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval = [5, 324]). Sex-specific data on suicide rates identified a 1.7:1 ratio in men compared to women. People with bipolar disorder account for 3.4-14% of all suicide deaths, with self-poisoning and hanging being the most common methods. Epidemiological studies report that 23-26% of people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide, with higher rates in clinical samples. There are numerous genetic associations with suicide attempts and deaths in bipolar disorder, but few replication studies. Data on treatment with lithium or anticonvulsants are strongly suggestive for prevention of suicide attempts and deaths, but additional data are required before relative anti-suicide effects can be confirmed. There were limited data on potential anti-suicide effects of treatment with antipsychotics or antidepressants. This analysis identified a lower estimated suicide rate in bipolar disorder than what was previously published. Understanding the overall risk of suicide deaths and attempts, and the most common methods, are important building blocks to greater awareness and improved interventions for suicide prevention in bipolar disorder. Replication of genetic findings and stronger prospective data on

  16. Epidemiology, neurobiology and pharmacological interventions related to suicide deaths and suicide attempts in bipolar disorder: Part I of a report of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Task Force on Suicide in Bipolar Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Schaffer, Ayal; Isometsä, Erkki T; Tondo, Leonardo; Moreno, Doris H; Sinyor, Mark; Kessing, Lars Vedel; Turecki, Gustavo; Weizman, Abraham; Azorin, Jean-Michel; Ha, Kyooseob; Reis, Catherine; Cassidy, Frederick; Goldstein, Tina; Rihmer, Zoltán; Beautrais, Annette; Chou, Yuan-Hwa; Diazgranados, Nancy; Levitt, Anthony J; Zarate, Carlos A; Yatham, Lakshmi

    2016-01-01

    Objectives Bipolar disorder is associated with elevated risk of suicide attempts and deaths. Key aims of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Task Force on Suicide included examining the extant literature on epidemiology, neurobiology and pharmacotherapy related to suicide attempts and deaths in bipolar disorder. Methods Systematic review of studies from 1 January 1980 to 30 May 2014 examining suicide attempts or deaths in bipolar disorder, with a specific focus on the incidence and characterization of suicide attempts and deaths, genetic and non-genetic biological studies and pharmacotherapy studies specific to bipolar disorder. We conducted pooled, weighted analyses of suicide rates. Results The pooled suicide rate in bipolar disorder is 164 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval = [5, 324]). Sex-specific data on suicide rates identified a 1.7:1 ratio in men compared to women. People with bipolar disorder account for 3.4–14% of all suicide deaths, with self-poisoning and hanging being the most common methods. Epidemiological studies report that 23–26% of people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide, with higher rates in clinical samples. There are numerous genetic associations with suicide attempts and deaths in bipolar disorder, but few replication studies. Data on treatment with lithium or anticonvulsants are strongly suggestive for prevention of suicide attempts and deaths, but additional data are required before relative anti-suicide effects can be confirmed. There were limited data on potential anti-suicide effects of treatment with antipsychotics or antidepressants. Conclusion This analysis identified a lower estimated suicide rate in bipolar disorder than what was previously published. Understanding the overall risk of suicide deaths and attempts, and the most common methods, are important building blocks to greater awareness and improved interventions for suicide prevention in bipolar disorder. Replication of genetic findings and

  17. Inverse dynamic investigation of voluntary leg lateral movements in weightlessness: a new microgravity-specific strategy.

    PubMed

    Pedrocchi, Alessandra; Baroni, Guido; Pedotti, Antonio; Massion, Jean; Ferrigno, Giancarlo

    2005-04-01

    This study deals with the quantitative assessment of exchanged forces and torques at the restraint point during whole body posture perturbation movements in long-term microgravity. The work was based on the results of a previous study focused on trunk bending protocol, which suggested that the minimization of the torques exchanged at the restraint point could be a strategy for movement planning in microgravity (J. Biomech. 36(11) (2003) 1691). Torques minimization would lead to the optimization of muscles activity, to the minimization of energy expenditure and, ultimately, to higher movement control capabilities. Here, we focus on leg lateral abduction from anchored stance. The analysis was based on inverse dynamic modelling, leading to the estimation of the total angular momentum at the supporting ankle joint. Results agree with those obtained for trunk bending movements and point out a consistent minimization of the torques exchanged at the restraint point in weightlessness. Given the kinematic features of the examined motor task, this strategy was interpreted as a way to master the rotational dynamic effects on the frontal plane produced by leg lateral abduction. This postural stabilizing effects was the result of a multi-segmental compensation strategy, consisting of the counter rotation of the supporting limb and trunk accompanying the leg raising. The observed consistency of movement-posture co-ordination patterns among lateral leg raising and trunk bending is put forward as a novel interpretative issue of the adaptation mechanisms of the motor system to sustained microgravity, especially if one considers the completely different kinematics of the centre of mass, which was observed in weightlessness for these two motor tasks.

  18. Why do people google movement disorders? An infodemiological study of information seeking behaviors.

    PubMed

    Brigo, Francesco; Erro, Roberto

    2016-05-01

    Millions of people worldwide everyday search Google or Wikipedia to look for health-related information. Aim of this study was to evaluate and interpret web search queries for terms related to movement disorders (MD) in English-speaking countries and their changes over time. We analyzed information regarding the volume of online searches in Google and Wikipedia for the most common MD and their treatments. We determined the highest search volume peaks to identify possible relation with online news headlines. The volume of searches for some queries related to MD entered in Google enormously increased over time. Most queries were related to definition, subtypes, symptoms and treatment (mostly to adverse effects, or alternatively, to possible alternative treatments). The highest peaks of MD search queries were temporally related to news about celebrities suffering from MD, to specific mass-media events or to news concerning pharmaceutic companies or scientific discoveries on MD. An increasing number of people use Google and Wikipedia to look for terms related to MD to obtain information on definitions, causes and symptoms, possibly to aid initial self-diagnosis. MD information demand and the actual prevalence of different MDs do not travel together: web search volume may mirrors patients' fears and worries about some particular disorders perceived as more serious than others, or may be driven by release of news about celebrities suffering from MD, "breaking news" or specific mass-media events regarding MD.

  19. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and the anxiety disorders: clinical and research implications of an integrated psychotherapy treatment.

    PubMed

    Shapiro, F

    1999-01-01

    Four recent, independent, rigorously controlled studies of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) have reported that 84 to 100% of single-trauma victims no longer maintain the posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis after the equivalent of three 90-minute sessions. The rapidity of EMDR treatment effects makes many ancillary research opportunities available. Specifically, the increased number of cases resolved in a relatively short period of time allows investigation of neurophysiological phenomena, patterns of cognitive and emotional processing, component analyses of a large range of procedural factors, and evaluation of the efficacy of application to diverse clinical populations. Unfortunately, some research has been conducted that has been severely hampered by insufficient treatment fidelity and lack of clinical validity. Consequently, this article will attempt to describe the procedures and protocols that are believed to contribute to EMDR's clinical effects and are, therefore, suggested for the EMDR treatment and research of the anxiety disorders. This is particularly relevant given the misconceptions that have abounded due to the unfortunate naming of the procedure after the eye movements, which have proved to be only one of many useful types of stimulation, and only one of many components of this complex, integrated treatment.

  20. The Tell-Tale Tasks: A Review of Saccadic Research in Psychiatric Patient Populations

    PubMed Central

    Gooding, Diane C.; Basso, Michele A.

    2008-01-01

    This review focuses on saccade research with adult psychiatric patients. It begins with an introduction of the various types of saccades and the tasks used to evoke them. The functional significance of the different types of eye movements is briefly discussed. Research findings regarding the saccadic performance of different adult psychiatric patient populations are discussed in detail, with particular emphasis on findings regarding error rates, response latencies, and any specific task parameters that might affect those variables. Findings regarding the symptom, neurocognitive, and neural correlates of saccadic performance and the functional significance of patients’ saccadic deficits are also discussed. We also discuss the saccadic deficits displayed by various patient groups in terms of circuitry (e.g. cortical/basal ganglia circuits) that may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of several of these disorders. Future directions for research in this growing area are offered. PMID:18950927

  1. Heart Rate Variability During a Joint Attention Task in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorders

    PubMed Central

    Billeci, Lucia; Tonacci, Alessandro; Narzisi, Antonio; Manigrasso, Zaira; Varanini, Maurizio; Fulceri, Francesca; Lattarulo, Caterina; Calderoni, Sara; Muratori, Filippo

    2018-01-01

    Background: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders featuring early impairments in social domain, with autonomic nervous system (ANS) unbalance possibly representing a useful marker for such disturbances. Impairments in joint attention (JA) are one of the earliest markers of social deficits in ASD. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of using wearable technologies for characterizing the ANS response in ASD toddlers during the presentation of JA stimuli. Methods: Twenty ASD toddlers and 20 age- and gender-matched typically developed (TD) children were recorded at baseline and during a JA task through an unobtrusive chest strap for electrocardiography (ECG). Specific algorithms for feature extraction, including Heart Rate (HR), Standard Deviation of the Normal-to-Normal Intervals (SDNN), Coefficient of Variation (CV), pNN10 as well as low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF), were applied to the ECG signal and a statistical comparison between the two groups was performed. Results: As regards the single phases, SDNN (p = 0.04) and CV (p = 0.021) were increased in ASD at baseline together with increased LF absolute power (p = 0.034). Moreover, CV remained higher in ASD during the task (p = 0.03). Considering the phase and group interaction, LF increased from baseline to task in TD group (p = 0.04) while it decreased in the ASD group (p = 0.04). Conclusions: The results of this study indicate the feasibility of characterizing the ANS response in ASD toddlers through a minimally obtrusive tool. Our analysis showed an increased SDNN and CV in toddlers with ASD particularly at baseline compared to TD and lower LF during the task. These findings could suggest the possibility of using the proposed approach for evaluating physiological correlates of JA response in young children with ASD. PMID:29765335

  2. A report on older-age bipolar disorder from the International Society for Bipolar Disorders Task Force.

    PubMed

    Sajatovic, Martha; Strejilevich, Sergio A; Gildengers, Ariel G; Dols, Annemiek; Al Jurdi, Rayan K; Forester, Brent P; Kessing, Lars Vedel; Beyer, John; Manes, Facundo; Rej, Soham; Rosa, Adriane R; Schouws, Sigfried Ntm; Tsai, Shang-Ying; Young, Robert C; Shulman, Kenneth I

    2015-11-01

    In the coming generation, older adults with bipolar disorder (BD) will increase in absolute numbers as well as proportion of the general population. This is the first report of the International Society for Bipolar Disorder (ISBD) Task Force on Older-Age Bipolar Disorder (OABD). This task force report addresses the unique aspects of OABD including epidemiology and clinical features, neuropathology and biomarkers, physical health, cognition, and care approaches. The report describes an expert consensus summary on OABD that is intended to advance the care of patients, and shed light on issues of relevance to BD research across the lifespan. Although there is still a dearth of research and health efforts focused on older adults with BD, emerging data have brought some answers, innovative questions, and novel perspectives related to the notion of late onset, medical comorbidity, and the vexing issue of cognitive impairment and decline. Improving our understanding of the biological, clinical, and social underpinnings relevant to OABD is an indispensable step in building a complete map of BD across the lifespan. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Ambulatory Assessment in Panic Disorder and Specific Phobia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alpers, Georg W.

    2009-01-01

    Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders. In panic disorder, panic attacks often occur at unpredictable times, making it difficult to study these episodes in the laboratory. In specific phobias, symptoms occur in very circumscribed situations and specific triggers are sometimes difficult to reproduce in the laboratory.…

  4. An Eye-Movement Study of Relational Memory in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ring, Melanie; Bowler, Dermot M.; Gaigg, Sebastian B.

    2017-01-01

    Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate good memory for single items but difficulties remembering contextual information related to these items. Recently, we found compromised explicit but intact implicit retrieval of object-location information in ASD (Ring et al. "Autism Res" 8(5):609-619, 2015). Eye-movement data…

  5. Difficulty leading interpersonal coordination: towards an embodied signature of social anxiety disorder

    PubMed Central

    Varlet, Manuel; Marin, Ludovic; Capdevielle, Delphine; Del-Monte, Jonathan; Schmidt, R. C.; Salesse, Robin N.; Boulenger, Jean-Philippe; Bardy, Benoît G.; Raffard, Stéphane

    2014-01-01

    Defined by a persistent fear of embarrassment or negative evaluation while engaged in social interaction or public performance, social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common psychiatric syndromes. Previous research has made a considerable effort to better understand and assess this mental disorder. However, little attention has been paid to social motor behavior of patients with SAD despite its crucial importance in daily social interactions. Previous research has shown that the coordination of arm, head or postural movements of interacting people can reflect their mental states or feelings such as social connectedness and social motives, suggesting that interpersonal movement coordination may be impaired in patients suffering from SAD. The current study was specifically aimed at determining whether SAD affects the dynamics of social motor coordination. We compared the unintentional and intentional rhythmic coordination of a SAD group (19 patients paired with control participants) with the rhythmic coordination of a control group (19 control pairs) in an interpersonal pendulum coordination task. The results demonstrated that unintentional social motor coordination was preserved with SAD while intentional coordination was impaired. More specifically, intentional coordination became impaired when patients with SAD had to lead the coordination as indicated by poorer (i.e., more variable) coordination. These differences between intentional and unintentional coordination as well as between follower and leader roles reveal an impaired coordination dynamics that is specific to SAD, and thus, opens promising research directions to better understand, assess and treat this mental disorder. PMID:24567707

  6. Basic Timing Abilities Stay Intact in Patients with Musician's Dystonia

    PubMed Central

    van der Steen, M. C.; van Vugt, Floris T.; Keller, Peter E.; Altenmüller, Eckart

    2014-01-01

    Task-specific focal dystonia is a movement disorder that is characterized by the loss of voluntary motor control in extensively trained movements. Musician's dystonia is a type of task-specific dystonia that is elicited in professional musicians during instrumental playing. The disorder has been associated with deficits in timing. In order to test the hypothesis that basic timing abilities are affected by musician's dystonia, we investigated a group of patients (N = 15) and a matched control group (N = 15) on a battery of sensory and sensorimotor synchronization tasks. Results did not show any deficits in auditory-motor processing for patients relative to controls. Both groups benefited from a pacing sequence that adapted to their timing (in a sensorimotor synchronization task at a stable tempo). In a purely perceptual task, both groups were able to detect a misaligned metronome when it was late rather than early relative to a musical beat. Overall, the results suggest that basic timing abilities stay intact in patients with musician's dystonia. This supports the idea that musician's dystonia is a highly task-specific movement disorder in which patients are mostly impaired in tasks closely related to the demands of actually playing their instrument. PMID:24667273

  7. [Primary versus secondary stereotypic movements].

    PubMed

    Fernandez Alvarez, E

    2004-02-01

    Stereotypic movements are repetitive patterns of movements whose physiopathology and relations to other neurobehavioural disorders are still only poorly understood. In this paper our aim is to distinguish between primary stereotypic movements, which are the sole manifestation of an anomaly, while the complementary examinations, except for those involving molecular genetics, are normal; associated stereotypic movements, when they meet primary disorder criteria but there are other coexisting independent neurological signs, that is to say, they are neither the cause nor the consequence of the movement disorder; and secondary stereotypic movements, when they are the consequence of a lesion or acquired neurological dysfunction. Examples of primary stereotypic movements include episodes of parasomnia, such as head rocking, in subjects who are otherwise normal, and stereotypic movements due to emotional disorders, severe environmental deprivation or in institutionalised infants. Examples of associated stereotypic movements are those observed in Rett syndrome, in subjects with sensory defects or with mental retardation due to a variety of causes. And as instances of secondary stereotypic movements we have those that can be seen in infinite like syndrome caused by congenital cerebellar lesions. The purpose of the classification is to lay the foundations for the identification of new syndromes, which would without a doubt facilitate research into their physiopathology, their aetiology and the possible therapeutic attitude to be adopted.

  8. A single aerobic exercise session accelerates movement execution but not central processing.

    PubMed

    Beyer, Kit B; Sage, Michael D; Staines, W Richard; Middleton, Laura E; McIlroy, William E

    2017-03-27

    Previous research has demonstrated that aerobic exercise has disparate effects on speed of processing and movement execution. In simple and choice reaction tasks, aerobic exercise appears to increase speed of movement execution while speed of processing is unaffected. In the flanker task, aerobic exercise has been shown to reduce response time on incongruent trials more than congruent trials, purportedly reflecting a selective influence on speed of processing related to cognitive control. However, it is unclear how changes in speed of processing and movement execution contribute to these exercise-induced changes in response time during the flanker task. This study examined how a single session of aerobic exercise influences speed of processing and movement execution during a flanker task using electromyography to partition response time into reaction time and movement time, respectively. Movement time decreased during aerobic exercise regardless of flanker congruence but returned to pre-exercise levels immediately after exercise. Reaction time during incongruent flanker trials decreased over time in both an aerobic exercise and non-exercise control condition indicating it was not specifically influenced by exercise. This disparate influence of aerobic exercise on movement time and reaction time indicates the importance of partitioning response time when examining the influence of aerobic exercise on speed of processing. The decrease in reaction time over time independent of aerobic exercise indicates that interpreting pre-to-post exercise changes in behavior requires caution. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Stereotypic movement disorder after acquired brain injury.

    PubMed

    McGrath, Cynthia M; Kennedy, Richard E; Hoye, Wayne; Yablon, Stuart A

    2002-05-01

    Stereotypic movement disorder (SMD) consists of repetitive, non-functional motor behaviour that interferes with daily living or causes injury to the person. It is most often described in patients with mental retardation. However, recent evidence indicates that this condition is common among otherwise normal individuals. This case study describes a patient with new-onset SMD occurring after subdural haematoma and brain injury. SMD has rarely been reported after acquired brain injury, and none have documented successful treatment. The current psychiatric literature regarding neurochemistry, neuroanatomy, and treatment of SMD are reviewed with particular application to one patient. Treatment options include serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, opioid antagonists and dopamine antagonists. SMD has been under-appreciated in intellectually normal individuals, and may also be unrecognized after brain injury. Further investigation is needed in this area, which may benefit other individuals with SMD as well.

  10. The Education of Behavior Disordered Students. Report of the West Virginia Task Force.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    West Virginia State Dept. of Education, Charleston. Bureau of Learning Systems.

    The report presents findings of a West Virginia task force on a program study for behavior disordered students in early childhood education, middle childhood education, and adolescent education. The first section presents a synopsis of studies on current research and best practices in the education of behavior disordered students. The conclusions…

  11. Attentional capture by emotional scenes across episodes in bipolar disorder: Evidence from a free-viewing task.

    PubMed

    García-Blanco, Ana; Salmerón, Ladislao; Perea, Manuel

    2015-05-01

    We examined whether the initial orienting, subsequent engagement, and overall allocation of attention are determined exogenously (i.e. by the affective valence of the stimulus) or endogenously (i.e. by the participant's mood) in the manic, depressive and euthymic episodes of bipolar disorder (BD). Participants were asked to compare the affective valence of two pictures (happy/threatening/neutral [emotional] vs. neutral [control]) while their eye movements were recorded in a free-viewing task. Results revealed that the initial orienting was exogenously captured by emotional images relative to control images. Importantly, engagement and overall allocation were endogenously captured by threatening images relative to neutral images in BD patients, regardless of their episode--this effect did not occur in a group of healthy controls. The threat-related bias in BD, which occurs even at the early stages of information processing (i.e. attentional engagement), may reflect a vulnerability marker. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Independence of Movement Preparation and Movement Initiation.

    PubMed

    Haith, Adrian M; Pakpoor, Jina; Krakauer, John W

    2016-03-09

    Initiating a movement in response to a visual stimulus takes significantly longer than might be expected on the basis of neural transmission delays, but it is unclear why. In a visually guided reaching task, we forced human participants to move at lower-than-normal reaction times to test whether normal reaction times are strictly necessary for accurate movement. We found that participants were, in fact, capable of moving accurately ∼80 ms earlier than their reaction times would suggest. Reaction times thus include a seemingly unnecessary delay that accounts for approximately one-third of their duration. Close examination of participants' behavior in conventional reaction-time conditions revealed that they generated occasional, spontaneous errors in trials in which their reaction time was unusually short. The pattern of these errors could be well accounted for by a simple model in which the timing of movement initiation is independent of the timing of movement preparation. This independence provides an explanation for why reaction times are usually so sluggish: delaying the mean time of movement initiation relative to preparation reduces the risk that a movement will be initiated before it has been appropriately prepared. Our results suggest that preparation and initiation of movement are mechanistically independent and may have a distinct neural basis. The results also demonstrate that, even in strongly stimulus-driven tasks, presentation of a stimulus does not directly trigger a movement. Rather, the stimulus appears to trigger an internal decision whether to make a movement, reflecting a volitional rather than reactive mode of control. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/363007-10$15.00/0.

  13. Characteristics of stereotypic movement disorder and self-injurious behavior assessed with the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped (DASH-II).

    PubMed

    Matson, J L; Hamilton, M; Duncan, D; Bamburg, J; Smiroldo, B; Anderson, S; Baglio, C

    1997-01-01

    The first experiment involved 143 individuals with severe and profound mental retardation. Individuals with Stereotypic Movement Disorder, Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB), and Stereotypic movement disorder with self-injurious behavior as assessed by the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II DASH-II were validated against Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria. In a second study DASH-II scores for 1480 individuals with severe and profound mental retardation were compared on demographic variables, core and associated features of each disorder. Characteristics of persons in each group were reviewed. Persons with profound mental retardation were more likely to evince stereotypies or self-injury compared to their severely impaired counterparts. Also, those with stereotypies were more likely to present with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)/autism, organicity, and eating disorders, while persons with SIB were more likely to evince sleep, sexual, and eating disorders.

  14. Fine motor ability and psychiatric disorders in youth.

    PubMed

    Mendes, Lorenna Sena Teixeira; Manfro, Gisele Gus; Gadelha, Ary; Pan, Pedro Mario; Bressan, Rodrigo Affonseca; Rohde, Luis Augusto; Salum, Giovanni Abrahão

    2018-05-01

    Impaired fine motor ability has been linked to several domains of psychopathology. However, studies validating the specificity of this association among several categorical psychiatric disorders are still needed. The aim of this study was to assess differences in fine motor ability performance among four non-overlapping groups of psychiatric disorders and a group of typical developing comparisons (TDC). Our sample consisted of 2035 subjects aged 6-14-year-old. Diagnoses of psychiatric disorders were performed with the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA). Five non-overlapping groups without comorbidity were formed: phobic disorders (n = 101), distress disorders (n = 82), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 133), oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) (n = 52) and one group of typical developing comparisons (TDC) (n = 1667). Fine motor ability was evaluated by three tasks: sequential finger-thumb opposition, Oseretsky, and pronation/supination tests. Each task was assessed by total time to perform the movement and levels of accuracy, fluency, symmetry, precision, and coordination. We found that, when compared to TDC, the ADHD group performed more poorly in total fine motor ability (mean difference = - 0.28; p = 0.014), time to complete the task (mean difference = 0.36; p < 0.001), accuracy (mean difference = - 0.30; p = 0.005), fluency (mean difference = - 0.26; p = 0.03), symmetry (mean difference - 0.25; p = 0.04), precision (mean difference = - 0.26; p = 0.026), and coordination (mean difference = - 0.25; p = 0.042). The ADHD group also took more time to complete the task than the ODD/CD group (mean difference = 0.45; p = 0.037). No other significant between-group differences were found. Additional analyses showed those differences were statistically significant for all ADHD dimensions. Our results suggest that children with ADHD present impairments in all aspects of fine

  15. Interceptive Skills in Children Aged 9-11 Years, Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whyatt, Caroline; Craig, Cathy M.

    2013-01-01

    Growing evidence suggests that significant motor problems are associated with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), particularly in catching tasks. Catching is a complex, dynamic skill that involves the ability to synchronise one's own movement to that of a moving target. To successfully complete the task, the participant must pick up…

  16. Gradual training reduces practice difficulty while preserving motor learning of a novel locomotor task.

    PubMed

    Sawers, Andrew; Hahn, Michael E

    2013-08-01

    Motor learning strategies that increase practice difficulty and the size of movement errors are thought to facilitate motor learning. In contrast to this, gradual training minimizes movement errors and reduces practice difficulty by incrementally introducing task requirements, yet remains as effective as sudden training and its large movement errors for learning novel reaching tasks. While attractive as a locomotor rehabilitation strategy, it remains unknown whether the efficacy of gradual training extends to learning locomotor tasks and their unique requirements. The influence of gradual vs. sudden training on learning a locomotor task, asymmetric split belt treadmill walking, was examined by assessing whole body sagittal plane kinematics during 24 hour retention and transfer performance following either gradual or sudden training. Despite less difficult and less specific practice for the gradual cohort on day 1, gradual training resulted in equivalent motor learning of the novel locomotor task as sudden training when assessed by retention and transfer a day later. This suggests that large movement errors and increased practice difficulty may not be necessary for learning novel locomotor tasks. Further, gradual training may present a viable locomotor rehabilitation strategy avoiding large movement errors that could limit or impair improvements in locomotor performance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Incidental threat during visuospatial working memory in adolescent anxiety: an emotional memory-guided saccade task.

    PubMed

    Mueller, Sven C; Shechner, Tomer; Rosen, Dana; Nelson, Eric E; Pine, Daniel S; Ernst, Monique

    2015-04-01

    Pediatric anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric mental illnesses in children and adolescents, and are associated with abnormal cognitive control in emotional, particularly threat, contexts. In a series of studies using eye movement saccade tasks, we reported anxiety-related alterations in the interplay of inhibitory control with incentives, or with emotional distractors. The present study extends these findings to working memory (WM), and queries the interaction of spatial WM with emotional stimuli in pediatric clinical anxiety. Participants were 33 children/adolescents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and 22 age-matched healthy comparison youths. Participants completed a novel eye movement task, an affective variant of the memory-guided saccade task. This task assessed the influence of incidental threat on spatial WM processes during high and low cognitive load. Healthy but not anxious children/adolescents showed slowed saccade latencies during incidental threat in low-load but not high-load WM conditions. No other group effects emerged on saccade latency or accuracy. The current data suggest a differential pattern of how emotion interacts with cognitive control in healthy youth relative to anxious youth. These findings extend data from inhibitory processes, reported previously, to spatial WM in pediatric anxiety. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Increasing the on-Task Homework Behavior of Youth with Behavior Disorders Using Functional Behavioral Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hawkins, Renee O.; Axelrod, Michael I.

    2008-01-01

    Research has shown a positive correlation between time spent on homework and learning. However, students often engage in off-task behaviors to escape the demands of homework. Youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are especially likely to engage in off-task behaviors. Effective interventions to increase on-task behavior during homework…

  19. Interplay Between Conceptual Expectations and Movement Predictions Underlies Action Understanding.

    PubMed

    Ondobaka, Sasha; de Lange, Floris P; Wittmann, Marco; Frith, Chris D; Bekkering, Harold

    2015-09-01

    Recent accounts of understanding goal-directed action underline the importance of a hierarchical predictive architecture. However, the neural implementation of such an architecture remains elusive. In the present study, we used functional neuroimaging to quantify brain activity associated with predicting physical movements, as they were modulated by conceptual-expectations regarding the purpose of the object involved in the action. Participants observed object-related actions preceded by a cue that generated both conceptual goal expectations and movement goal predictions. In 2 tasks, observers judged whether conceptual or movement goals matched or mismatched the cue. At the conceptual level, expected goals specifically recruited the posterior cingulate cortex, irrespectively of the task and the perceived movement goal. At the movement level, neural activation of the parieto-frontal circuit, including inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobe, reflected unpredicted movement goals. Crucially, this movement prediction error was only present when the purpose of the involved object was expected. These findings provide neural evidence that prior conceptual expectations influence processing of physical movement goals and thereby support the hierarchical predictive account of action processing. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Movement Pattern Variability in Stone Knapping: Implications for the Development of Percussive Traditions

    PubMed Central

    Rein, Robert; Nonaka, Tetsushi; Bril, Blandine

    2014-01-01

    The earliest direct evidence for tool-use by our ancestors are 2.6 million year old stone tools from Africa. These earliest artifacts show that, already, early hominins had developed the required advanced movement skills and cognitive capacities to manufacture stone tools. Currently, it is not well understood, however, which specific movement skills are required for successful stone knapping and accordingly it is unknown how these skills emerged during early hominin evolution. In particular, it is not clear which striking movements are indicative of skilled performance, how striking movement patterns vary with task and environmental constraints, and how movement patterns are passed on within social groups. The present study addresses these questions by investigating striking movement patterns and striking variability in 18 modern stone knappers (nine experienced and nine novices). The results suggest that no single movement pattern characterizes successful stone knapping. Participants showed large inter-individual movement variability of the elementary knapping action irrespective of knapping experience and knapping performance. Changes in task- and environmental constraints led knappers to adapt their elementary striking actions using a combination of individual and common strategies. Investigation of striking pattern similarities within social groups showed only partial overlap of striking patterns across related individuals. The results therefore suggest that striking movement patterns in modern stone knappers are largely specific to the individual and movement variability is not indicative of knapping performance. The implications of these results for the development of percussive traditions are discussed. PMID:25426630

  1. Entropy of Movement Outcome in Space-Time.

    PubMed

    Lai, Shih-Chiung; Hsieh, Tsung-Yu; Newell, Karl M

    2015-07-01

    Information entropy of the joint spatial and temporal (space-time) probability of discrete movement outcome was investigated in two experiments as a function of different movement strategies (space-time, space, and time instructional emphases), task goals (point-aiming and target-aiming) and movement speed-accuracy constraints. The variance of the movement spatial and temporal errors was reduced by instructional emphasis on the respective spatial or temporal dimension, but increased on the other dimension. The space-time entropy was lower in targetaiming task than the point aiming task but did not differ between instructional emphases. However, the joint probabilistic measure of spatial and temporal entropy showed that spatial error is traded for timing error in tasks with space-time criteria and that the pattern of movement error depends on the dimension of the measurement process. The unified entropy measure of movement outcome in space-time reveals a new relation for the speed-accuracy.

  2. Electrophysiological characteristics of task-specific tremor in 22 instrumentalists.

    PubMed

    Lee, André; Tominaga, Kenta; Furuya, Shinichi; Miyazaki, Fumio; Altenmüller, Eckart

    2015-03-01

    Our aim was to address three characteristics of task-specific tremor in musicians (TSTM): First, we quantified muscular activity of flexor and extensor muscles, of coactivation as well as tremor acceleration. Second, we compared muscular activity between task-dependent and position-dependent tremor. Third, we investigated, whether there is an overflow of muscular activity to muscles adjacent to the affected muscles in TSTM. Tremor acceleration and muscular activity were measured in the affected muscles and the muscles adjacent to the affected muscles in 22 patients aged 51.5 ± 11.4 years with a task-specific tremor. We assessed power of muscular oscillatory activity and calculated the coherence between EMG activity of affected muscles and tremor acceleration as well as between adjacent muscles and tremor acceleration. This was done for task-dependent and position-dependent tremor. We found the highest power and coherence of muscular oscillatory activity in the frequency range of 3-8 Hz for affected and adjacent muscles. No difference was found between task-dependent and position-dependent tremor in neither power nor coherence measures. Our results generalize previous results of a relation between coactivation and tremor among a variety of musicians. Furthermore, we found coherence of adjacent muscles and TSTM. This indicates that overflow exists in TSTM and suggests an association of TST with dystonia.

  3. Pioneers of movement disorders: Georges Gilles de la Tourette.

    PubMed

    Krämer, H; Daniels, C

    2004-06-01

    Georges Albert Edouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette (1857-1904), a French neurologist and pupil of Jean Martin Charcot at the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, has gained common recognition through his description of the 'Maladie des Tics'. This complex neuropsychiatric disorder, later known as the 'Tourette's syndrome', nowadays is accepted as a specific entity of movement disorders. Gilles had started working under Charcot (1825-1893), the first physician to occupy a designated chair of neurology of neuropsychiatric history, in 1884. Then the Salpêtrière hospital was a centre of intensive research with an emphasis on hysteria and hypnosis. Tourette took an interest in hysteria, but also dedicated himself to various other neuropsychiatric disorders and to neuropathology. He published scientific works on epilepsia, neurasthenia and syphilitic myelitis. Although he devoted much time to his neuropsychiatric research and the publication of articles in medical journals, his career did not make significant progress, despite Charcot's unrestricted support. One reason was, that he disregarded questions, answers and problems, which were outside his interest fields. Hence, he was accused for having acquired an extremely filtered and one-sided knowledge. Also, his alienated and critical behaviour, which had not helped him to find many friends over the years, prevented him from professional promotion. In 1893 an assassination attempt on Gilles de la Tourette raised considerable public interest: Gilles was shot in his appartement in the Rue de l'Université 39 by a young woman, who had been his patient in the Salpêtrière and who claimed that she had been hypnotized without her agreement and thereby had lost her mental health. However, the patient was diagnosed with a disease nowadays called paranoid schizophrenia and therefore hypnosis was not attributed to any part of the disease. Due to episodes of melancholia and phases of delusions of grandeur and megalomania Gilles de

  4. Individual Differences in Impulsivity Predict Anticipatory Eye Movements

    PubMed Central

    Cirilli, Laetitia; de Timary, Philippe; Lefèvre, Phillipe; Missal, Marcus

    2011-01-01

    Impulsivity is the tendency to act without forethought. It is a personality trait commonly used in the diagnosis of many psychiatric diseases. In clinical practice, impulsivity is estimated using written questionnaires. However, answers to questions might be subject to personal biases and misinterpretations. In order to alleviate this problem, eye movements could be used to study differences in decision processes related to impulsivity. Therefore, we investigated correlations between impulsivity scores obtained with a questionnaire in healthy subjects and characteristics of their anticipatory eye movements in a simple smooth pursuit task. Healthy subjects were asked to answer the UPPS questionnaire (Urgency Premeditation Perseverance and Sensation seeking Impulsive Behavior scale), which distinguishes four independent dimensions of impulsivity: Urgency, lack of Premeditation, lack of Perseverance, and Sensation seeking. The same subjects took part in an oculomotor task that consisted of pursuing a target that moved in a predictable direction. This task reliably evoked anticipatory saccades and smooth eye movements. We found that eye movement characteristics such as latency and velocity were significantly correlated with UPPS scores. The specific correlations between distinct UPPS factors and oculomotor anticipation parameters support the validity of the UPPS construct and corroborate neurobiological explanations for impulsivity. We suggest that the oculomotor approach of impulsivity put forth in the present study could help bridge the gap between psychiatry and physiology. PMID:22046334

  5. Movement towards transdiagnostic psychotherapeutic practices for the affective disorders.

    PubMed

    Gros, Daniel F; Allan, Nicholas P; Szafranski, Derek D

    2016-08-01

    Evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) practices were first developed in the 1960s. Over the decades, refinements and alternative symptom foci resulted in the development of several CBT protocols/manuals for each of the many disorders, especially in the affective disorders. Although shown to be effective in highly trained providers, the proliferation of CBT protocols also has shown to demonstrate challenges in dissemination and implementation efforts due to the sheer number of CBT protocols and their related training requirements (eg, 6 months per protocol) and their related cost (eg, over US$2000 each; lost days/hours at work). To address these concerns, newer transdiagnostic CBT protocols have been developed to reduce the number of disorder-specific CBT protocols needed to treat patients with affective disorders. Transdiagnostic treatments are based on the notion that various disorder-specific CBT protocols contain important but overlapping treatment components that can be distilled into a single treatment and therefore address the symptoms and comorbidities across all of the disorders at once. 3 examples of transdiagnostic treatments include group CBT of anxiety, unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders and transdiagnostic behaviour therapy. Each transdiagnostic protocol is designed for a different set of disorders, contains a varied amount of CBT treatment components and is tested in different types of samples. However, together, these 3 transdiagnostic psychotherapies represent the future of CBT practice. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  6. Exploring physical exposures and identifying high-risk work tasks within the floor layer trade

    PubMed Central

    McGaha, Jamie; Miller, Kim; Descatha, Alexis; Welch, Laurie; Buchholz, Bryan; Evanoff, Bradley; Dale, Ann Marie

    2014-01-01

    Introduction Floor layers have high rates of musculoskeletal disorders yet few studies have examined their work exposures. This study used observational methods to describe physical exposures within floor laying tasks. Methods We analyzed 45 videos from 32 floor layers using Multimedia-Video Task Analysis software to determine the time in task, forces, postures, and repetitive hand movements for installation of four common flooring materials. We used the WISHA checklists to define exposure thresholds. Results Most workers (91%) met the caution threshold for one or more exposures. Workers showed high exposures in multiple body parts with variability in exposures across tasks and for different materials. Prolonged exposures were seen for kneeling, poor neck and low back postures, and intermittent but frequent hand grip forces. Conclusions Floor layers experience prolonged awkward postures and high force physical exposures in multiple body parts, which probably contribute to their high rates of musculoskeletal disorders. PMID:24274895

  7. Did I see your hand moving? The effect of movement-related information on the Corsi block tapping task.

    PubMed

    Brunetti, Riccardo; Del Gatto, Claudia; Cavallina, Clarissa; Farina, Benedetto; Delogu, Franco

    2018-05-01

    The Corsi Block Tapping Task is a widespread test used to assess spatial working memory. Previous research hypothesized that the discrepancy found in some cases between the traditional and the digital (touchscreen) version of the Corsi block tapping task may be due to a direct motor resonance between the experimenter's and the participant's hand movements. However, we hypothesize that this discrepancy might be due to extra movement-related information included in the traditional version, lacking in the digital one. We investigated the effects of such task-irrelevant information using eCorsi, a touchscreen version of the task. In Experiment 1, we manipulate timing in sequence presentation, creating three conditions. In the Congruent condition, the inter-stimulus intervals reflected the physical distance in which the stimuli were spatially placed: The longer the spatial distance, the longer the temporal interval. In the Incongruent condition the timing changed randomly. Finally, in the Isochronous condition every stimulus appeared after a fixed interval, independently from its spatial position. The results showed a performance enhancement in the Congruent condition, suggesting an incidental spatio-temporal binding. In Experiment 2, we added straight lines between each location in the sequences: In the Trajectories condition participants saw trajectories from one spatial position to the other during sequence presentation, while a condition without such trajectories served as control. Results showed better performances in the Trajectories condition. We suggest that the timing and trajectories information play a significant role in the discrepancies found between the traditional and the touchscreen version of the Corsi Block Tapping Task, without the necessity of explanations involving direct motor resonance (e.g. seeing an actual hand moving) as a causal factor.

  8. Shared and Disorder-Specific Neurocomputational Mechanisms of Decision-Making in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

    PubMed

    Carlisi, Christina O; Norman, Luke; Murphy, Clodagh M; Christakou, Anastasia; Chantiluke, Kaylita; Giampietro, Vincent; Simmons, Andrew; Brammer, Michael; Murphy, Declan G; Mataix-Cols, David; Rubia, Katya

    2017-12-01

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often share phenotypes of repetitive behaviors, possibly underpinned by abnormal decision-making. To compare neural correlates underlying decision-making between these disorders, brain activation of boys with ASD (N = 24), OCD (N = 20) and typically developing controls (N = 20) during gambling was compared, and computational modeling compared performance. Patients were unimpaired on number of risky decisions, but modeling showed that both patient groups had lower choice consistency and relied less on reinforcement learning compared to controls. ASD individuals had disorder-specific choice perseverance abnormalities compared to OCD individuals. Neurofunctionally, ASD and OCD boys shared dorsolateral/inferior frontal underactivation compared to controls during decision-making. During outcome anticipation, patients shared underactivation compared to controls in lateral inferior/orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum. During reward receipt, ASD boys had disorder-specific enhanced activation in inferior frontal/insular regions relative to OCD boys and controls. Results showed that ASD and OCD individuals shared decision-making strategies that differed from controls to achieve comparable performance to controls. Patients showed shared abnormalities in lateral-(orbito)fronto-striatal reward circuitry, but ASD boys had disorder-specific lateral inferior frontal/insular overactivation, suggesting that shared and disorder-specific mechanisms underpin decision-making in these disorders. Findings provide evidence for shared neurobiological substrates that could serve as possible future biomarkers. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  9. Linear and Logarithmic Speed-Accuracy Trade-Offs in Reciprocal Aiming Result from Task-Specific Parameterization of an Invariant Underlying Dynamics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bongers, Raoul M.; Fernandez, Laure; Bootsma, Reinoud J.

    2009-01-01

    The authors examined the origins of linear and logarithmic speed-accuracy trade-offs from a dynamic systems perspective on motor control. In each experiment, participants performed 2 reciprocal aiming tasks: (a) a velocity-constrained task in which movement time was imposed and accuracy had to be maximized, and (b) a distance-constrained task in…

  10. Interrater reliability of a Pilates movement-based classification system.

    PubMed

    Yu, Kwan Kenny; Tulloch, Evelyn; Hendrick, Paul

    2015-01-01

    To determine the interrater reliability for identification of a specific movement pattern using a Pilates Classification system. Videos of 5 subjects performing specific movement tasks were sent to raters trained in the DMA-CP classification system. Ninety-six raters completed the survey. Interrater reliability for the detection of a directional bias was excellent (Pi = 0.92, and K(free) = 0.89). Interrater reliability for classifying an individual into a specific subgroup was moderate (Pi = 0.64, K(free) = 0.55) however raters who had completed levels 1-4 of the DMA-CP training and reported using the assessment daily demonstrated excellent reliability (Pi = 0.89 and K(free) = 0.87). The reliability of the classification system demonstrated almost perfect agreement in determining the existence of a specific movement pattern and classifying into a subgroup for experienced raters. There was a trend for greater reliability associated with increased levels of training and experience of the raters. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Occupational-Specific Strength Predicts Astronaut-Related Task Performance in a Weighted Suit.

    PubMed

    Taylor, Andrew; Kotarsky, Christopher J; Bond, Colin W; Hackney, Kyle J

    2018-01-01

    Future space missions beyond low Earth orbit will require deconditioned astronauts to perform occupationally relevant tasks within a planetary spacesuit. The prediction of time-to-completion (TTC) of astronaut tasks will be critical for crew safety, autonomous operations, and mission success. This exploratory study determined if the addition of task-specific strength testing to current standard lower body testing would enhance the prediction of TTC in a 1-G test battery. Eight healthy participants completed NASA lower body strength tests, occupationally specific strength tests, and performed six task simulations (hand drilling, construction wrenching, incline walking, collecting weighted samples, and dragging an unresponsive crewmember to safety) in a 48-kg weighted suit. The TTC for each task was recorded and summed to obtain a total TTC for the test battery. Linear regression was used to predict total TTC with two models: 1) NASA lower body strength tests; and 2) NASA lower body strength tests + occupationally specific strength tests. Total TTC of the test battery ranged from 20.2-44.5 min. The lower body strength test alone accounted for 61% of the variability in total TTC. The addition of hand drilling and wrenching strength tests accounted for 99% of the variability in total TTC. Adding occupationally specific strength tests (hand drilling and wrenching) to standard lower body strength tests successfully predicted total TTC in a performance test battery within a weighted suit. Future research should couple these strength tests with higher fidelity task simulations to determine the utility and efficacy of task performance prediction.Taylor A, Kotarsky CJ, Bond CW, Hackney KJ. Occupational-specific strength predicts astronaut-related task performance in a weighted suit. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(1):58-62.

  12. EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL STUDY OF ATTENTION REGULATION DURING ILLUSORY FIGURE CATEGORIZATION TASK IN ADHD, AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER, AND TYPICAL CHILDREN.

    PubMed

    Sokhadze, Estate M; Baruth, Joshua M; Sears, Lonnie; Sokhadze, Guela E; El-Baz, Ayman S; Williams, Emily; Klapheke, Robert; Casanova, Manuel F

    2012-01-01

    Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are very common developmental disorders which share some similar symptoms of social, emotional, and attentional deficits. This study is aimed to help understand the differences and similarities of these deficits using analysis of dense-array event-related potentials (ERP) during an illusory figure recognition task. Although ADHD and ASD seem very distinct, they have been shown to share some similarities in their symptoms. Our hypothesis was that children with ASD will show less pronounced differences in ERP responses to target and non-target stimuli as compared to typical children, and to a lesser extent, ADHD. Participants were children with ASD (N=16), ADHD (N=16), and controls (N=16). EEG was collected using a 128 channel EEG system. The task involved the recognition of a specific illusory shape, in this case a square or triangle, created by three or four inducer disks. There were no between group differences in reaction time (RT) to target stimuli, but both ASD and ADHD committed more errors, specifically the ASD group had statistically higher commission error rate than controls. Post-error RT in ASD group was exhibited in a post-error speeding rather than corrective RT slowing typical for the controls. The ASD group also demonstrated an attenuated error-related negativity (ERN) as compared to ADHD and controls. The fronto-central P200, N200, and P300 were enhanced and less differentiated in response to target and non-target figures in the ASD group. The same ERP components were marked by more prolonged latencies in the ADHD group as compared to both ASD and typical controls. The findings are interpreted according to the "minicolumnar" hypothesis proposing existence of neuropathological differences in ASD and ADHD, specifically minicolumnar number/width morphometry spectrum differences. In autism, a model of local hyperconnectivity and long-range hypoconnectivity explains many

  13. How young adults with autism spectrum disorder watch and interpret pragmatically complex scenes.

    PubMed

    Lönnqvist, Linda; Loukusa, Soile; Hurtig, Tuula; Mäkinen, Leena; Siipo, Antti; Väyrynen, Eero; Palo, Pertti; Laukka, Seppo; Mämmelä, Laura; Mattila, Marja-Leena; Ebeling, Hanna

    2017-11-01

    The aim of the current study was to investigate subtle characteristics of social perception and interpretation in high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and to study the relation between watching and interpreting. As a novelty, we used an approach that combined moment-by-moment eye tracking and verbal assessment. Sixteen young adults with ASD and 16 neurotypical control participants watched a video depicting a complex communication situation while their eye movements were tracked. The participants also completed a verbal task with questions related to the pragmatic content of the video. We compared verbal task scores and eye movements between groups, and assessed correlations between task performance and eye movements. Individuals with ASD had more difficulty than the controls in interpreting the video, and during two short moments there were significant group differences in eye movements. Additionally, we found significant correlations between verbal task scores and moment-level eye movement in the ASD group, but not among the controls. We concluded that participants with ASD had slight difficulties in understanding the pragmatic content of the video stimulus and attending to social cues, and that the connection between pragmatic understanding and eye movements was more pronounced for participants with ASD than for neurotypical participants.

  14. Sex differences in kinematic adaptations to muscle fatigue induced by repetitive upper limb movements.

    PubMed

    Bouffard, Jason; Yang, Chen; Begon, Mickael; Côté, Julie

    2018-04-19

    Muscle fatigue induced by repetitive movements contributes to the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Men and women respond differently to muscle fatigue during isometric single-joint efforts, but sex differences during dynamic multi-joint tasks have not been clearly identified. Moreover, most studies comparing men and women during fatigue development assessed endurance time. However, none evaluated sex differences in kinematic adaptations to fatigue during multi-joint dynamic tasks. The objective of the study was to compare how men and women adapt their upper body kinematics during a fatiguing repetitive pointing task. Forty men and 41 women performed repetitive pointing movements (one per second) between two targets while maintaining their elbow elevated at shoulder height. The task ended when participants rated a perceived level of fatigue of 8/10. Trunk, humerothoracic, and elbow angles were compared between the first and last 30 s of the experiment and between men and women. Linear positions of the index finger (distance from the target) and the elbow (arm elevation) as well as movement timing were documented as task performance measures. Men (7.4 ± 3.2 min) and women (8.3 ± 4.5 min) performed the repetitive pointing task for a similar duration. For both sex groups, trunk range of motion increased with fatigue while shoulder's and elbow's decreased. Moreover, participants modified their trunk posture to compensate for the decreased humerothoracic elevation. Movements at all joints also became more variable with fatigue. However, of the 24 joint angle variables assessed, only two Sex × Fatigue interactions were observed. Although average humerothoracic elevation angle decreased in both subgroups, this decrease was greater in men (standardized response mean [SRM] - 1.63) than in women (SRM - 1.44). Moreover, the movement-to-movement variability of humerothoracic elevation angle increased only in women (SRM 0.42). Despite many similarities

  15. Genetics of Movement Disorders and the Practicing Clinician; Who and What to Test for?

    PubMed

    Di Fonzo, Alessio; Monfrini, Edoardo; Erro, Roberto

    2018-05-23

    This review aims to provide the basic knowledge on the genetics of hypokinetic and hyperkinetic movement disorders to guide clinicians in the decision of "who and what to test for?" In recent years, the identification of various genetic causes of hypokinetic and hyperkinetic movement disorders has had a great impact on a better definition of different clinical syndromes. Indeed, the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques has provided an impressive step forward in the easy identification of genetic forms. However, this increased availability of genetic testing has challenges, including the ethical issue of genetic testing in unaffected family members, "commercially" available home testing kits and the increasing number and relevance of "variants of unknown significance." The emergent role of genetic factors has important implications on clinical practice and counseling. As a consequence, it is fundamental that practicing neurologists have a proper knowledge of the genetic background of the diseases and perform an accurate selection of who has to be tested and for which gene mutations.

  16. The role of vision, speed, and attention in overcoming directional biases during arm movements.

    PubMed

    Dounskaia, Natalia; Goble, Jacob A

    2011-03-01

    Previous research has revealed directional biases (preferences to select movements in specific directions) during horizontal arm movements with the use of a free-stroke drawing task. The biases were interpreted as a result of a tendency to generate motion at either the shoulder or elbow (leading joint) and move the other (subordinate) joint predominantly passively to avoid neural effort for control of interaction torque. Here, we examined influence of vision, movement speed, and attention on the directional biases. Participants performed the free-stroke drawing task, producing center-out strokes in randomly selected directions. Movements were performed with and without vision and at comfortable and fast pace. A secondary, cognitive task was used to distract attention. Preferred directions remained the same in all conditions. Bias strength mildly increased without vision, especially during fast movements. Striking increases in bias strength were caused by the secondary task, pointing to additional cognitive load associated with selection of movements in the non-preferred directions. Further analyses demonstrated that the tendency to minimize active interference with interaction torque at the subordinate joint matched directional biases in all conditions. This match supports the explanation of directional biases as a result of a tendency to minimize neural effort for interaction torque control. The cognitive load may enhance this tendency in two ways, directly, by reducing neural capacity for interaction torque control, and indirectly, by decreasing capacity of working memory that stores visited directions. The obtained results suggest strong directional biases during daily activities because natural arm movements usually subserve cognitive tasks.

  17. Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome: phenotypic comparisons with other movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Robertson, Erin E; Hall, Deborah A; McAsey, Andrew R; O'Keefe, Joan A

    2016-08-01

    The purpose of this paper is to review the typical cognitive and motor impairments seen in fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), essential tremor (ET), Parkinson disease (PD), spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) in order to enhance diagnosis of FXTAS patients. We compared the cognitive and motor phenotypes of FXTAS with each of these other movement disorders. Relevant neuropathological and neuroimaging findings are also reviewed. Finally, we describe the differences in age of onset, disease severity, progression rates, and average lifespan in FXTAS compared to ET, PD, SCAs, MSA, and PSP. We conclude with a flow chart algorithm to guide the clinician in the differential diagnosis of FXTAS. By comparing the cognitive and motor phenotypes of FXTAS with the phenotypes of ET, PD, SCAs, MSA, and PSP we have clarified potential symptom overlap while elucidating factors that make these disorders unique from one another. In summary, the clinician should consider a FXTAS diagnosis and testing for the Fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene premutation if a patient over the age of 50 (1) presents with cerebellar ataxia and/or intention tremor with mild parkinsonism, (2) has the middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP) sign, global cerebellar and cerebral atrophy, and/or subcortical white matter lesions on MRI, or (3) has a family history of fragile X related disorders, intellectual disability, autism, premature ovarian failure and has neurological signs consistent with FXTAS. Peripheral neuropathy, executive function deficits, anxiety, or depression are supportive of the diagnosis. Distinct profiles in the cognitive and motor domains between these movement disorders may guide practitioners in the differential diagnosis process and ultimately lead to better medical management of FXTAS patients.

  18. Using Eye Movements to Model the Sequence of Text-Picture Processing for Multimedia Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mason, L.; Scheiter, K.; Tornatora, M. C.

    2017-01-01

    This study used eye movement modeling examples (EMME) to support students' integrative processing of verbal and graphical information during the reading of an illustrated text. EMME consists of a replay of eye movements of a model superimposed onto the materials that are processed for accomplishing the task. Specifically, the study investigated…

  19. Disorder-specific functional abnormalities during temporal discounting in youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism and comorbid ADHD and Autism.

    PubMed

    Chantiluke, Kaylita; Christakou, Anastasia; Murphy, Clodagh M; Giampietro, Vincent; Daly, Eileen M; Ecker, Christina; Brammer, Michael; Murphy, Declan G; Rubia, Katya

    2014-08-30

    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often comorbid and share cognitive abnormalities in temporal foresight. A key question is whether shared cognitive phenotypes are based on common or different underlying pathophysiologies and whether comorbid patients have additive neurofunctional deficits, resemble one of the disorders or have a different pathophysiology. We compared age- and IQ-matched boys with non-comorbid ADHD (18), non-comorbid ASD (15), comorbid ADHD and ASD (13) and healthy controls (18) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a temporal discounting task. Only the ASD and the comorbid groups discounted delayed rewards more steeply. The fMRI data showed both shared and disorder-specific abnormalities in the three groups relative to controls in their brain-behaviour associations. The comorbid group showed both unique and more severe brain-discounting associations than controls and the non-comorbid patient groups in temporal discounting areas of ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum and anterior cingulate, suggesting that comorbidity is neither an endophenocopy of the two pure disorders nor an additive pathology. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  20. Assessment of Specific Characteristics of Abnormal General Movements: Does It Enhance the Prediction of Cerebral Palsy?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hamer, Elisa G.; Bos, Arend F.; Hadders-Algra, Mijna

    2011-01-01

    Aim: Abnormal general movements at around 3 months corrected age indicate a high risk of cerebral palsy (CP). We aimed to determine whether specific movement characteristics can improve the predictive power of definitely abnormal general movements. Method: Video recordings of 46 infants with definitely abnormal general movements at 9 to 13 weeks…

  1. Eye movements reflect and shape strategies in fraction comparison

    PubMed Central

    Ischebeck, Anja; Weilharter, Marina; Körner, Christof

    2016-01-01

    The comparison of fractions is a difficult task that can often be facilitated by separately comparing components (numerators and denominators) of the fractions—that is, by applying so-called component-based strategies. The usefulness of such strategies depends on the type of fraction pair to be compared. We investigated the temporal organization and the flexibility of strategy deployment in fraction comparison by evaluating sequences of eye movements in 20 young adults. We found that component-based strategies could account for the response times and the overall number of fixations observed for the different fraction pairs. The analysis of eye movement sequences showed that the initial eye movements in a trial were characterized by stereotypical scanning patterns indicative of an exploratory phase that served to establish the kind of fraction pair presented. Eye movements that followed this phase adapted to the particular type of fraction pair and indicated the deployment of specific comparison strategies. These results demonstrate that participants employ eye movements systematically to support strategy use in fraction comparison. Participants showed a remarkable flexibility to adapt to the most efficient strategy on a trial-by-trial basis. Our results confirm the value of eye movement measurements in the exploration of strategic adaptation in complex tasks. PMID:26039819

  2. Eye movements reflect and shape strategies in fraction comparison.

    PubMed

    Ischebeck, Anja; Weilharter, Marina; Körner, Christof

    2016-01-01

    The comparison of fractions is a difficult task that can often be facilitated by separately comparing components (numerators and denominators) of the fractions--that is, by applying so-called component-based strategies. The usefulness of such strategies depends on the type of fraction pair to be compared. We investigated the temporal organization and the flexibility of strategy deployment in fraction comparison by evaluating sequences of eye movements in 20 young adults. We found that component-based strategies could account for the response times and the overall number of fixations observed for the different fraction pairs. The analysis of eye movement sequences showed that the initial eye movements in a trial were characterized by stereotypical scanning patterns indicative of an exploratory phase that served to establish the kind of fraction pair presented. Eye movements that followed this phase adapted to the particular type of fraction pair and indicated the deployment of specific comparison strategies. These results demonstrate that participants employ eye movements systematically to support strategy use in fraction comparison. Participants showed a remarkable flexibility to adapt to the most efficient strategy on a trial-by-trial basis. Our results confirm the value of eye movement measurements in the exploration of strategic adaptation in complex tasks.

  3. A functional approach to movement analysis and error identification in sports and physical education

    PubMed Central

    Hossner, Ernst-Joachim; Schiebl, Frank; Göhner, Ulrich

    2015-01-01

    In a hypothesis-and-theory paper, a functional approach to movement analysis in sports is introduced. In this approach, contrary to classical concepts, it is not anymore the “ideal” movement of elite athletes that is taken as a template for the movements produced by learners. Instead, movements are understood as the means to solve given tasks that in turn, are defined by to-be-achieved task goals. A functional analysis comprises the steps of (1) recognizing constraints that define the functional structure, (2) identifying sub-actions that subserve the achievement of structure-dependent goals, (3) explicating modalities as specifics of the movement execution, and (4) assigning functions to actions, sub-actions and modalities. Regarding motor-control theory, a functional approach can be linked to a dynamical-system framework of behavioral shaping, to cognitive models of modular effect-related motor control as well as to explicit concepts of goal setting and goal achievement. Finally, it is shown that a functional approach is of particular help for sports practice in the context of structuring part practice, recognizing functionally equivalent task solutions, finding innovative technique alternatives, distinguishing errors from style, and identifying root causes of movement errors. PMID:26441717

  4. Attention network functioning in children with anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and non-clinical anxiety.

    PubMed

    Mogg, K; Salum, G A; Bradley, B P; Gadelha, A; Pan, P; Alvarenga, P; Rohde, L A; Pine, D S; Manfro, G G

    2015-01-01

    Research with adults suggests that anxiety is associated with poor control of executive attention. However, in children, it is unclear (a) whether anxiety disorders and non-clinical anxiety are associated with deficits in executive attention, (b) whether such deficits are specific to anxiety versus other psychiatric disorders, and (c) whether there is heterogeneity among anxiety disorders (in particular, specific phobia versus other anxiety disorders). We examined executive attention in 860 children classified into three groups: anxiety disorders (n = 67), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 67) and no psychiatric disorder (n = 726). Anxiety disorders were subdivided into: anxiety disorders excluding specific phobia (n = 43) and specific phobia (n = 21). The Attention Network Task was used to assess executive attention, alerting and orienting. Findings indicated heterogeneity among anxiety disorders, as children with anxiety disorders (excluding specific phobia) showed impaired executive attention, compared with disorder-free children, whereas children with specific phobia showed no executive attention deficit. Among disorder-free children, executive attention was less efficient in those with high, relative to low, levels of anxiety. There were no anxiety-related deficits in orienting or alerting. Children with ADHD not only had poorer executive attention than disorder-free children, but also higher orienting scores, less accurate responses and more variable response times. Impaired executive attention in children (reflected by difficulty inhibiting processing of task-irrelevant information) was not fully explained by general psychopathology, but instead showed specific associations with anxiety disorders (other than specific phobia) and ADHD, as well as with high levels of anxiety symptoms in disorder-free children.

  5. Using Constraints to Design Developmentally Appropriate Movement Activities for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pope, Michelle; Breslin, Casey M.; Getchell, Nancy; Liu, Ting

    2012-01-01

    Some of the characteristics and behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as difficulty with social interactions and sensory integration, make physical education instruction difficult. Children with ASD also encounter movement difficulties, such as motor-planning and anticipatory deficits. One way to enhance the ability of…

  6. Behavioral and functional strategies during tool use tasks in bonobos.

    PubMed

    Bardo, Ameline; Borel, Antony; Meunier, Hélène; Guéry, Jean-Pascal; Pouydebat, Emmanuelle

    2016-09-01

    Different primate species have developed extensive capacities for grasping and manipulating objects. However, the manual abilities of primates remain poorly known from a dynamic point of view. The aim of the present study was to quantify the functional and behavioral strategies used by captive bonobos (Pan paniscus) during tool use tasks. The study was conducted on eight captive bonobos which we observed during two tool use tasks: food extraction from a large piece of wood and food recovery from a maze. We focused on grasping postures, in-hand movements, the sequences of grasp postures used that have not been studied in bonobos, and the kind of tools selected. Bonobos used a great variety of grasping postures during both tool use tasks. They were capable of in-hand movement, demonstrated complex sequences of contacts, and showed more dynamic manipulation during the maze task than during the extraction task. They arrived on the location of the task with the tool already modified and used different kinds of tools according to the task. We also observed individual manual strategies. Bonobos were thus able to develop in-hand movements similar to humans and chimpanzees, demonstrated dynamic manipulation, and they responded to task constraints by selecting and modifying tools appropriately, usually before they started the tasks. These results show the necessity to quantify object manipulation in different species to better understand their real manual specificities, which is essential to reconstruct the evolution of primate manual abilities. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Cervical helical axis characteristics and its center of rotation during active head and upper arm movements-comparisons of whiplash-associated disorders, non-specific neck pain and asymptomatic individuals.

    PubMed

    Grip, Helena; Sundelin, Gunnevi; Gerdle, Björn; Stefan Karlsson, J

    2008-09-18

    The helical axis model can be used to describe translation and rotation of spine segments. The aim of this study was to investigate the cervical helical axis and its center of rotation during fast head movements (side rotation and flexion/extension) and ball catching in patients with non-specific neck pain or pain due to whiplash injury as compared with matched controls. The aim was also to investigate correlations with neck pain intensity. A finite helical axis model with a time-varying window was used. The intersection point of the axis during different movement conditions was calculated. A repeated-measures ANOVA model was used to investigate the cervical helical axis and its rotation center for consecutive levels of 15 degrees during head movement. Irregularities in axis movement were derived using a zero-crossing approach. In addition, head, arm and upper body range of motion and velocity were observed. A general increase of axis irregularity that correlated to pain intensity was observed in the whiplash group. The rotation center was superiorly displaced in the non-specific neck pain group during side rotation, with the same tendency for the whiplash group. During ball catching, an anterior displacement (and a tendency to an inferior displacement) of the center of rotation and slower and more restricted upper body movements implied a changed movement strategy in neck pain patients, possibly as an attempt to stabilize the cervical spine during head movement.

  8. Intraoperative monitoring of motor symptoms using surface electromyography during stereotactic surgery for movement disorders.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xuguang; Aziz, Tipu Z; Bain, Peter G

    2005-06-01

    The authors present practical evidence for the usefulness of intraoperative monitoring with surface electromyograms (sEMGs) from the affected muscles to assist electrode implantation and lesioning in patients with movement disorders. In 22 consecutive patients with various movement disorders, sEMGs were monitored in selected muscles during stereotactic surgery that involved either lesioning or electrode implantation. The electromyograms related to major motor symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, myoclonus, dystonia, and chorea were monitored and characterized on-line by both amplitude and frequency. Major motor symptoms were revealed by sEMGs recorded from the affected muscles. Tremor manifested as highly rhythmic bursts with a narrow frequency band; dyskinesias and chorea appeared as irregularly repeated bursts within a broad frequency range of 1 to 5 Hz; and rigidity and dystonia appeared as sustained high-frequency activity and co-contraction between antagonist muscles. The results suggest that intraoperative monitoring of sEMGs could help to functionally refine and confirm target localization. Surface EMGs could be used (1) as reference signals of the motor symptoms so that other signals, such as the oscillatory local field potentials simultaneously recorded via the implanted electrodes, could be correlated with the sEMGs and used to fine-tune or confirm the target localization; (2) to quantify the effects of acute electrical stimulation on the motor symptoms; and (3) to sensitively detect unwanted capsular responses induced by direct stimulation of the internal capsule. The authors conclude that intraoperative monitoring of sEMGs of the affected muscles of patients with movement disorders during stereotactic surgery provides sensitive and quantitative information that can contribute to improved electrode or lesion placement.

  9. Is there a common motor dysregulation in sleepwalking and REM sleep behaviour disorder?

    PubMed

    Haridi, Mehdi; Weyn Banningh, Sebastian; Clé, Marion; Leu-Semenescu, Smaranda; Vidailhet, Marie; Arnulf, Isabelle

    2017-10-01

    -enacting behaviours (assessed by rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder screening questionnaires) are commonly reported by sleepwalking/sleep terrors patients, thus decreasing the questionnaire's specificity. Furthermore, sleepwalking/sleep terrors patients have excessive twitching during rapid eye movement sleep, which may result either from a higher dreaming activity in rapid eye movement sleep or from a more generalised non-rapid eye movement/rapid eye movement motor dyscontrol during sleep. © 2017 European Sleep Research Society.

  10. Interhemispheric Control of Unilateral Movement

    PubMed Central

    Beaulé, Vincent; Tremblay, Sara; Théoret, Hugo

    2012-01-01

    To perform strictly unilateral movements, the brain relies on a large cortical and subcortical network. This network enables healthy adults to perform complex unimanual motor tasks without the activation of contralateral muscles. However, mirror movements (involuntary movements in ipsilateral muscles that can accompany intended movement) can be seen in healthy individuals if a task is complex or fatiguing, in childhood, and with increasing age. Lateralization of movement depends on complex interhemispheric communication between cortical (i.e., dorsal premotor cortex, supplementary motor area) and subcortical (i.e., basal ganglia) areas, probably coursing through the corpus callosum (CC). Here, we will focus on transcallosal interhemispheric inhibition (IHI), which facilitates complex unilateral movements and appears to play an important role in handedness, pathological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, and stroke recovery. PMID:23304559

  11. Motor Retraining (MoRe) for Functional Movement Disorders: Outcomes From a 1-Week Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation Program.

    PubMed

    Jacob, Alexandra; Kaelin, Darryl; Roach, Abbey; Ziegler, Craig; LaFaver, Kathrin

    2018-05-18

    Functional movement disorders (FMDs) are conditions of abnormal motor control thought to be caused by psychological factors. These disorders are commonly seen in neurologic practice, and prognosis is often poor. No consensus treatment guidelines have been established; however, the role of physical therapy in addition to psychotherapy has increasingly been recognized. This study reports patient outcomes from a multidisciplinary FMD treatment program using motor retraining (MoRe) strategies. To assess outcomes of FMD patients undergoing a multidisciplinary treatment program and determine factors predictive of treatment success. Retrospective chart review. University-affiliated rehabilitation institute. Thirty-two consecutive FMD patients admitted to the MoRe program from July 2014-July 2016. Patients participated in a 1-week, multidisciplinary inpatient treatment program with daily physical, occupational, speech therapy, and psychotherapy interventions. Primary outcome measures were changes in the patient-rated Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) and the physician-rated Psychogenic Movement Disorder Rating Scale (PMDRS) based on review of standardized patient videos. Measurements were taken as part of the clinical evaluation of the program. Twenty-four of the 32 patients were female with a mean age of 49.1 (±14.2) years and mean symptom duration of 7.4 (±10.8) years. Most common movement phenomenologies were abnormal gait (31.2%), hyperkinetic movements (31.2%), and dystonia (31.2%). At discharge, 86.7% of patients reported symptom improvement on the CGI, and self-reported improvement was maintained in 69.2% at the 6-month follow-up. PMDRS scores improved by 59.1% from baseline to discharge. Longer duration of symptoms, history of abuse, and comorbid psychiatric disorders were not significant predictors of treatment outcomes. The majority of FMD patients experienced improvement from a 1-week multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation program. Treatment outcomes

  12. Insights into Chronic Functional Movement Disorders: The Value of Qualitative Psychiatric Interviews.

    PubMed

    Epstein, Steven A; Maurer, Carine W; LaFaver, Kathrin; Ameli, Rezvan; Sinclair, Stephen; Hallett, Mark

    Patients with functional movement disorders (FMDs) are commonly seen by neurologists and psychosomatic medicine psychiatrists. Research literature provides scant information about the subjective experiences of individuals with this often chronic problem. To enhance our understanding of psychologic aspects of FMDs by conducting qualitative interviews of research subjects. In total, 36 patients with FMDs were recruited from the Human Motor Control clinic at the National Institutes of Health. Each subject participated in a qualitative psychiatric interview and a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview. Of our 36 subjects, 28 had current or lifetime psychiatric disorders in addition to conversion disorder and 22 had current disorders. Qualitative interviews provided rich information on patients' understanding of their illnesses and impaired cognitive processing of emotions. Our study supports the addition of open-ended qualitative interviews to delineate emotional dynamics and conceptual frameworks among such patients. Exploratory interviews generate enhanced understanding of such complex patients, above and beyond that gained by assessing DSM diagnostic comorbidities. Copyright © 2016 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. All rights reserved.

  13. Modulations of eye movement patterns by spatial filtering during the learning and testing phases of an old/new face recognition task.

    PubMed

    Lemieux, Chantal L; Collin, Charles A; Nelson, Elizabeth A

    2015-02-01

    In two experiments, we examined the effects of varying the spatial frequency (SF) content of face images on eye movements during the learning and testing phases of an old/new recognition task. At both learning and testing, participants were presented with face stimuli band-pass filtered to 11 different SF bands, as well as an unfiltered baseline condition. We found that eye movements varied significantly as a function of SF. Specifically, the frequency of transitions between facial features showed a band-pass pattern, with more transitions for middle-band faces (≈5-20 cycles/face) than for low-band (≈<5 cpf) or high-band (≈>20 cpf) ones. These findings were similar for the learning and testing phases. The distributions of transitions across facial features were similar for the middle-band, high-band, and unfiltered faces, showing a concentration on the eyes and mouth; conversely, low-band faces elicited mostly transitions involving the nose and nasion. The eye movement patterns elicited by low, middle, and high bands are similar to those previous researchers have suggested reflect holistic, configural, and featural processing, respectively. More generally, our results are compatible with the hypotheses that eye movements are functional, and that the visual system makes flexible use of visuospatial information in face processing. Finally, our finding that only middle spatial frequencies yielded the same number and distribution of fixations as unfiltered faces adds more evidence to the idea that these frequencies are especially important for face recognition, and reveals a possible mediator for the superior performance that they elicit.

  14. Common therapeutic mechanisms of pallidal deep brain stimulation for hypo- and hyperkinetic movement disorders

    PubMed Central

    Iriki, Atsushi; Isoda, Masaki

    2015-01-01

    Abnormalities in cortico-basal ganglia (CBG) networks can cause a variety of movement disorders ranging from hypokinetic disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), to hyperkinetic conditions, such as Tourette syndrome (TS). Each condition is characterized by distinct patterns of abnormal neural discharge (dysrhythmia) at both the local single-neuron level and the global network level. Despite divergent etiologies, behavioral phenotypes, and neurophysiological profiles, high-frequency deep brain stimulation (HF-DBS) in the basal ganglia has been shown to be effective for both hypo- and hyperkinetic disorders. The aim of this review is to compare and contrast the electrophysiological hallmarks of PD and TS phenotypes in nonhuman primates and discuss why the same treatment (HF-DBS targeted to the globus pallidus internus, GPi-DBS) is capable of ameliorating both symptom profiles. Recent studies have shown that therapeutic GPi-DBS entrains the spiking of neurons located in the vicinity of the stimulating electrode, resulting in strong stimulus-locked modulations in firing probability with minimal changes in the population-scale firing rate. This stimulus effect normalizes/suppresses the pathological firing patterns and dysrhythmia that underlie specific phenotypes in both the PD and TS models. We propose that the elimination of pathological states via stimulus-driven entrainment and suppression, while maintaining thalamocortical network excitability within a normal physiological range, provides a common therapeutic mechanism through which HF-DBS permits information transfer for purposive motor behavior through the CBG while ameliorating conditions with widely different symptom profiles. PMID:26180116

  15. Dance recognition system using lower body movement.

    PubMed

    Simpson, Travis T; Wiesner, Susan L; Bennett, Bradford C

    2014-02-01

    The current means of locating specific movements in film necessitate hours of viewing, making the task of conducting research into movement characteristics and patterns tedious and difficult. This is particularly problematic for the research and analysis of complex movement systems such as sports and dance. While some systems have been developed to manually annotate film, to date no automated way of identifying complex, full body movement exists. With pattern recognition technology and knowledge of joint locations, automatically describing filmed movement using computer software is possible. This study used various forms of lower body kinematic analysis to identify codified dance movements. We created an algorithm that compares an unknown move with a specified start and stop against known dance moves. Our recognition method consists of classification and template correlation using a database of model moves. This system was optimized to include nearly 90 dance and Tai Chi Chuan movements, producing accurate name identification in over 97% of trials. In addition, the program had the capability to provide a kinematic description of either matched or unmatched moves obtained from classification recognition.

  16. Advances in graphonomics: studies on fine motor control, its development and disorders.

    PubMed

    Van Gemmert, Arend W A; Teulings, Hans-Leo

    2006-10-01

    During the past 20 years graphonomic research has become a major contributor to the understanding of human movement science. Graphonomic research investigates the relationship between the planning and generation of fine motor tasks, in particular, handwriting and drawing. Scientists in this field are at the forefront of using new paradigms to investigate human movement. The 16 articles in this special issue of Human Movement Science show that the field of graphonomics makes an important contribution to the understanding of fine motor control, motor development, and movement disorders. Topics discussed include writer's cramp, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, drug-induced parkinsonism, dopamine depletion, dysgraphia, motor development, developmental coordination disorder, caffeine, alertness, arousal, sleep deprivation, visual feedback transformation and suppression, eye-hand coordination, pen grip, pen pressure, movement fluency, bimanual interference, dominant versus non-dominant hand, tracing, freehand drawing, spiral drawing, reading, typewriting, and automatic segmentation.

  17. Phonological Processing in Children with Specific Reading Disorder versus Typical Learners: Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance in a Transparent Orthography

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brandenburg, Janin; Klesczewski, Julia; Schuchardt, Kirsten; Fischbach, Anne; Büttner, Gerhard; Hasselhorn, Marcus

    2017-01-01

    Although children with specific reading disorder (RD) have often been compared to typically achieving children on various phonological processing tasks, to our knowledge no study so far has examined whether the structure of phonological processing applies to both groups of children alike. According to Wagner and Torgesen (1987), phonological…

  18. Preschool children adapt grasping movements to upcoming object manipulations: Evidence from a dial rotation task.

    PubMed

    Herbort, Oliver; Büschelberger, Juliane; Janczyk, Markus

    2018-03-01

    In adults, the motor plans for object-directed grasping movements reflects the anticipated requirements of intended future object manipulations. This prospective mode of planning has been termed second-order planning. Surprisingly, second-order planning is thought to be fully developed only by 10 years of age, when children master seemingly more complex motor skills. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that already 5- and 6-year-old children consistently use second-order planning but that this ability does not become apparent in tasks that are traditionally used to probe it. We asked 5- and 6-year-olds and adults to grasp and rotate a circular dial in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Although children's grasp selections were less consistent on an intra- and inter-individual level than adults' grasp selections, all children adjusted their grasps to the upcoming dial rotations. By contrast, in an also administered bar rotation task, only a subset of children adjusted their grasps to different bar rotations, thereby replicating previous results. The results indicate that 5- and 6-year-olds consistently use second-order planning in a dial rotation task, although this ability does not become apparent in bar rotation tasks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Attentional Differences in a Driving Hazard Perception Task in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheppard, Elizabeth; van Loon, Editha; Underwood, Geoffrey; Ropar, Danielle

    2017-01-01

    The current study explored attentional processing of social and non-social stimuli in ASD within the context of a driving hazard perception task. Participants watched videos of road scenes and detected hazards while their eye movements were recorded. Although individuals with ASD demonstrated relatively good detection of driving hazards, they were…

  20. Introduction to the Special Issue on Clinical Neuropsychology of Movement Disorders.

    PubMed

    Tröster, Alexander I

    2017-11-01

    The special issue on the clinical neuropsychology of movement disorders provides an overview for the non-subspecialist clinical neuropsychologist and other clinical neuroscientists of the neuropsychological features, assessment and treatment of Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementias, atypical parkinsonian disorders (corticobasal syndrome, progressive supranuclear palsy, and multiple system atrophy), Huntington's disease, dystonia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Additionally, articles provide overviews of neuropsychological and ethical issues related to deep brain stimulation and a discussion of non-pharamcologic and non-invasive treatment of cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. A search of PubMed using neuropsycholog* and parkinson* as search terms indicates that the number of articles dealing with neuropsychology of parkinsonian disorders has more than doubled in each of the past three decades (1990-99:269 entries, 2000-09:575 entries, 2010-17:967 entries). This rapid growth of research makes a special issue on the topic very timely. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.