It's all in the type of the task: Dopamine modulates kinematic patterns during competitive vs. cooperative interaction in Parkinson's disease.

Increasing evidence suggests that a dysfunctional dopaminergic system affects the ability to socially interact. Since Parkinson's disease (PD) provides a model for assessing dopaminergic dysfunctions in humans, our study was designed to investigate social interactions in PD patients receiving dopamine replacement therapy (Levodopa=l-Dopa) and in neurologically healthy controls. We focused on the kinematics of one action, reaching to grasp a wooden block, which was performed within the context of two basic modes of social cognition, namely cooperation and competition.

Dopamine depletion affects communicative intentionality in Parkinson's disease patients: Evidence from action kinematics.

Appropriate communication is at the heart of successful, healthy social interactions in humans. Deficits in social communication are a hallmark of several neurological and psychiatric disorders. Yet, very little research has been devoted to understanding the mechanisms underlying these issues.

Social intentions in Parkinson's disease patients: A kinematic study.

Dysfunction of the dopaminergic system leads to motor, cognitive and motivational symptoms in brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Moreover, the dopaminergic system plays an important role in social interactions. The dopaminergic input to the basal ganglia (BG) thought to integrate social cues during the planning and execution of voluntary movements remains, however, largely unexplored.

Kinematics of the Reach-to-Grasp Movement in Vascular Parkinsonism: A Comparison with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease Patients.

The performance of patients with vascular parkinsonism (VPD) on a reach-to-grasp task was compared with that of patients affected by idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) and age-matched control subjects. The aim of the study was to determine how patients with VPD and IPD compare at the level of the kinematic organization of prehensile actions. We examined how subjects concurrently executed the transport and grasp components of reach-to-grasp movements when grasping differently sized objects.

The Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale: intrarater reliability.

Background: The Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale (UMSARS) was developed to provide a surrogate measure of disease progression in multiple system atrophy. In the present study, the intrarater agreement of the motor examination part of the UMSARS was determined.

Methods: All patients were first examined face to face, while being video-recorded, by two senior and two junior investigators.