Effects of dopaminergic medication on objective tasks of deftness, bradykinesia and force control.

At least one small report has suggested the possibility that limb kinetic apraxia (a deficit in deftness) was not dopamine responsive and independent of bradykinesia and rigidity in PD. Quencer et al. (Neurology 68:150-151, 2007) observed that speed of finger tapping (bradykinesia) in optimally medicated persons with PD was largely comparable to healthy controls, yet their ability to manipulate and rotate a coin (deftness) was impaired.

Side onset influences motor impairments in Parkinson disease.

In right-handers, the left hemisphere has greater ipsilateral control of the upper extremities than the right hemisphere. This asymmetry is not as profound among left-handers. We sought to determine whether Parkinson disease (PD) maintains this pattern of ipsilateral control and affects motor impairment.

Distribution of motor impairment influences quality of life in Parkinson's disease.

We evaluated the relationship between upper extremity (UE) and lower extremity (LE) motor impairments in Parkinson's disease (PD) to overall disability and quality of life (QoL) measures. A total of 639 patients who were diagnosed with idiopathic PD were administered the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), QoL, activities of daily living (ADL), and behavioral scales. Composite UE and LE scores from the motor section of the UPDRS were correlated with ADL, QoL, and behavioral measurement scores while controlling for disease duration.

Movement-dependent stroke recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of TMS and fMRI evidence.

Evidence indicates that experience-dependent cortical plasticity underlies post-stroke motor recovery of the impaired upper extremity. Motor skill learning in neurologically intact individuals is thought to involve the primary motor cortex, and the majority of studies in the animal literature have studied changes in the primary sensorimotor cortex with motor rehabilitation. Whether changes in engagement in the sensorimotor cortex occur in humans after stroke currently is an area of much interest.

Bilateral movement training and stroke rehabilitation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective And Design: Bilateral movement training is being increasingly used as a post-stroke motor rehabilitation protocol. The contemporary emphasis on evidence-based medicine warrants a prospective meta-analysis to determine the overall effectiveness of rehabilitating with bilateral movements.

Methods: After searching reference lists of bilateral motor recovery articles as well as PubMed and Cochrane databases, 11 stroke rehabilitation studies qualified for this systematic review.