Motor automaticity in Parkinson's disease

Bradykinesia is the most important feature contributing to motor difficulties in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the pathophysiology underlying bradykinesia is not fully understood. One important aspect is that PD patients have difficulty in performing learned motor skills automatically, but this...

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Main Authors: Tao Wu, Mark Hallett, Piu Chan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-10-01
Series:Neurobiology of Disease
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996115002326
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author Tao Wu
Mark Hallett
Piu Chan
author_facet Tao Wu
Mark Hallett
Piu Chan
author_sort Tao Wu
collection DOAJ
description Bradykinesia is the most important feature contributing to motor difficulties in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the pathophysiology underlying bradykinesia is not fully understood. One important aspect is that PD patients have difficulty in performing learned motor skills automatically, but this problem has been generally overlooked. Here we review motor automaticity associated motor deficits in PD, such as reduced arm swing, decreased stride length, freezing of gait, micrographia and reduced facial expression. Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed some neural mechanisms underlying impaired motor automaticity in PD, including less efficient neural coding of movement, failure to shift automated motor skills to the sensorimotor striatum, instability of the automatic mode within the striatum, and use of attentional control and/or compensatory efforts to execute movements usually performed automatically in healthy people. PD patients lose previously acquired automatic skills due to their impaired sensorimotor striatum, and have difficulty in acquiring new automatic skills or restoring lost motor skills. More investigations on the pathophysiology of motor automaticity, the effect of L-dopa or surgical treatments on automaticity, and the potential role of using measures of automaticity in early diagnosis of PD would be valuable.
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spelling doaj.art-dc8f2d8f061c46c7add99f7b180b4aaf2022-12-21T21:24:34ZengElsevierNeurobiology of Disease1095-953X2015-10-0182226234Motor automaticity in Parkinson's diseaseTao Wu0Mark Hallett1Piu Chan2Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China; Corresponding author at: Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China. Fax: +86 10 8316 1294.Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USADepartment of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, ChinaBradykinesia is the most important feature contributing to motor difficulties in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the pathophysiology underlying bradykinesia is not fully understood. One important aspect is that PD patients have difficulty in performing learned motor skills automatically, but this problem has been generally overlooked. Here we review motor automaticity associated motor deficits in PD, such as reduced arm swing, decreased stride length, freezing of gait, micrographia and reduced facial expression. Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed some neural mechanisms underlying impaired motor automaticity in PD, including less efficient neural coding of movement, failure to shift automated motor skills to the sensorimotor striatum, instability of the automatic mode within the striatum, and use of attentional control and/or compensatory efforts to execute movements usually performed automatically in healthy people. PD patients lose previously acquired automatic skills due to their impaired sensorimotor striatum, and have difficulty in acquiring new automatic skills or restoring lost motor skills. More investigations on the pathophysiology of motor automaticity, the effect of L-dopa or surgical treatments on automaticity, and the potential role of using measures of automaticity in early diagnosis of PD would be valuable.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996115002326Parkinson’s diseaseAutomatic controlAttentional controlBradykinesiaBasal ganglia
spellingShingle Tao Wu
Mark Hallett
Piu Chan
Motor automaticity in Parkinson's disease
Neurobiology of Disease
Parkinson’s disease
Automatic control
Attentional control
Bradykinesia
Basal ganglia
title Motor automaticity in Parkinson's disease
title_full Motor automaticity in Parkinson's disease
title_fullStr Motor automaticity in Parkinson's disease
title_full_unstemmed Motor automaticity in Parkinson's disease
title_short Motor automaticity in Parkinson's disease
title_sort motor automaticity in parkinson s disease
topic Parkinson’s disease
Automatic control
Attentional control
Bradykinesia
Basal ganglia
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996115002326
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