None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Parkinson’s disease is characterised by impaired motor function including stiffness, bradykinesia and tremor. These changes also affect hand writing causing changes in writing kinematics and pen pressure. Changes in hand writing may also be an early marker of Parkinson’s disease. Computerised graphic tablets are capable of analysing the dynamic aspects of writing. The aim of this study is to ascertain features of different hand writing tasks that are most useful in identifying differences in hand writing features between Parkinson’s disease patients and healthy age-matched controls using a computerised graphic tablet. The hypothesis is that Parkinson’s disease patients will exhibit significantly different dynamic features of hand writing compared with healthy age-matched controls.
Interventions
A digital tablet with a pressure-sensor mounted pen will be used to record the dynamics of handwriting and drawing. Hand writing tasks include drawing a guided Archimedean spiral with first the dominant and then non-dominant hands, using the dominant hand only, tracing 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines; writing the letter "b" and "d" six times each; writing the letters "bd" six times; writing a short sentence; writing the participant's full name. It is anticipated that the activity will take app
A digital tablet with a pressure-sensor mounted pen will be used to record the dynamics of handwriting and drawing. Hand writing tasks include drawing a guided Archimedean spiral with first the dominant and then non-dominant hands, using the dominant hand only, tracing 2 horizontal and 2 vertical lines; writing the letter "b" and "d" six times each; writing the letters "bd" six times; writing a short sentence; writing the participant's full name. It is anticipated that the activity will take approximately 10 minutes to complete over a single session. Participants will attend a face-to-face session to complete the experiment and sessions will be conducted at a private neurology clinic in Dandenong and Goulburn Valley Health (GVH) in Shepparton. For healthy age-matched controls, sessions will be conducted at RMIT University or in a community setting in Rye, Victoria. All experiments are conducted by the researchers from the School of Engineering, RMIT University or by a Movement disorders Nurse at GVH.
Sponsors
RMIT University
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1.People diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, as evidenced by Unified Parkinson's disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores consistent with minimal to moderate disease 2.Healthy age-matched controls
Exclusion criteria
For Parkinson''s disease participants - diagnosed with other neurodegenerative diseases or stroke; cognitive impairment as evidenced by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score less than 26/30 For healthy controls - diagnosis of any neurodegenerative disease or stroke
Outcome results
None listed