Trunk–arm coordination in reaching for moving targets in people with Parkinson’s disease: Comparison between virtual and physical reality

• Published in: Human movement science 2012-10, Vol.31 (5), p.1340-1352
• Main Authors: Ma, Hui-Ing, Hwang, Wen-Juh, Wang, Ching-Yi, Fang, Jing-Jing, Leong, Iat-Fai, Wang, Tsui-Ying
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Arm - physiopathology; Ataxia - physiopathology; Ataxia - rehabilitation; Basal Ganglia - physiopathology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomechanical Phenomena - physiology; External cueing; Female; Form Perception - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hand Strength - physiology; Humans; Kinesthesis - physiology; Male; Middle Aged; Motion Perception - physiology; Motor Skills - physiology; Orientation - physiology; Parkinson Disease - physiopathology; Parkinson Disease - rehabilitation; Parkinson’s disease; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Rehabilitation; User-Computer Interface; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports; Virtual reality
• ISSN: 0167-9457; 1872-7646
• DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2011.11.004

► We examined trunk-arm coordination in Parkinson’s patients and in healthy controls. ► Participants reached for stationary and moving targets in physical and virtual realities. ► Moving targets induced fast and synchronized trunk and arm motions. ► Patients had different movement ending patterns in virtual and physical realities. We used a trunk-assisted prehension task to examine the effect of task (reaching for stationary vs. moving targets) and environmental constraints (virtual reality [VR] vs. physical reality) on the temporal control of trunk and arm motions in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Twenty-four participants with PD and 24 age-matched controls reached for and grasped a ball that was either stationary or moving along a ramp 120% of arm length away. In a similar VR task, participants reached for a virtual ball that was either stationary or moving. Movement speed was measured as trunk and arm movement times (MTs); trunk–arm coordination was measured as onset interval and offset interval between trunk and arm motions, as well as a summarized index-desynchrony score. In both VR and physical reality, the PD group had longer trunk and arm MTs than the control group when reaching for stationary balls (p