Degree
Master of Science
Program
Neuroscience
Supervisor
Dr. Penny MacDonald
2nd Supervisor
Dr. Melvyn Goodale
Joint Supervisor
Abstract
Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are thought to be selectively impaired in consciously-mediated online automatic motor control, whereas the ability to perform subconscious online adjustments remains intact. This present study evaluates the hypothesis that the previously alleged deficits in online motor control in PD are not due to the consciousness of the correction, but rather are attributable to aspects of the prior experimental designs disproportionately penalizing patients for PD-related bradykinesia. Here, we implemented a modified traditional double-step paradigm to investigate consciously-mediated online motor control in PD, in a manner that would be unconfounded by disease-related bradykinesia. Further, we investigated the effects of dopamine-replacement therapy on performance. We found that PD patients (n=12) and healthy-matched controls (n=12) were equal in performing automatic online corrections whether or not these corrections were consciously perceived, and their performance was unaffected by dopaminergic therapy. These findings inform our understanding of automatic motor control in PD.
Recommended Citation
Merritt, Kate E., "Is Online Motor Control Really Impaired In Parkinson's Disease?" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4078.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4078