RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Parkinson's disease
JF Neurology
JO Neurology
FD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
SP 951
OP 951
DO 10.1212/WNL.37.6.951
VO 37
IS 6
A1 Jay S. Schneider
A1 Shirley G. Diamond
A1 Charles H. Markham
YR 1987
UL http://n.neurology.org/content/37/6/951.abstract
AB Fifteen undemented patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 15 age-matched controls were given a battery of tests to assess sensorimotor integration in the arms. PD patients made more errors (p < 0.01) than controls, particularly in tests of proprioception. Age was not related to errors. Compared with controls, two-point discrimination thresholds were significantly higher (p <0.02) on the index finger of PD patients, but not on the forearm. Results confirm the sensorimotor deficits found earlier in an orofacial study, and imply that PD involves a generalized dysfunction of sensorimotor integration and proprioception, probably a result of impaired basal ganglia function in processing and integrating sensory input to organize and guide movement.