Distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.

OBJECTIVES: To compare action tremor (AT) during manual tracking in normal subjects and patients with multiple sclerosis with tremor (MS-tremor group) and without tremor (MS-no tremor group), and to differentiate tremor occurring predominantly around the distal joint from that involving the proximal...

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Auteurs principaux: Liu, X, Miall, R, Aziz, T, Palace, J, Stein, J
Format: Journal article
Langue:English
Publié: 1999
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author Liu, X
Miall, R
Aziz, T
Palace, J
Stein, J
author_facet Liu, X
Miall, R
Aziz, T
Palace, J
Stein, J
author_sort Liu, X
collection OXFORD
description OBJECTIVES: To compare action tremor (AT) during manual tracking in normal subjects and patients with multiple sclerosis with tremor (MS-tremor group) and without tremor (MS-no tremor group), and to differentiate tremor occurring predominantly around the distal joint from that involving the proximal joints of the arm. METHODS: Subjects performed both a visually guided ramp tracking task using wrist flexion/extension and a whole arm circle tracking task using shoulder movement. Action tremor at the wrist or shoulder was computed as the SD of the tracking velocity. The ratio of wrist:arm tremor was then calculated to differentiate distal from proximal tremor in the tested arm. Frequency spectra of the records were also examined. RESULTS: During wrist tracking, AT in patients with multiple sclerosis contained a major frequency component at 4-5 Hz; the frequency was slightly lower during whole arm tracking. The ratio of wrist:arm tremor was significantly higher in the MS-tremor group. Of 12 tested arms, eight had tremor significantly weighted towards the distal joint, only one towards the proximal joint, and three had a ratio inside the control range. CONCLUSIONS: AT in the arms of patients with multiple sclerosis can be effectively differentiated into proximal or distal using these two different tracking tasks. Despite the variability of the effects of multiple sclerosis, most of the AT was distal rather than proximal in this group of patients. Possibly conduction block along the corticocerebellocortical pathways caused this distal tremor.
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spelling oxford-uuid:d1c546b7-2223-44ef-8596-e3bbbf403ef92022-03-27T07:59:12ZDistal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:d1c546b7-2223-44ef-8596-e3bbbf403ef9EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford1999Liu, XMiall, RAziz, TPalace, JStein, JOBJECTIVES: To compare action tremor (AT) during manual tracking in normal subjects and patients with multiple sclerosis with tremor (MS-tremor group) and without tremor (MS-no tremor group), and to differentiate tremor occurring predominantly around the distal joint from that involving the proximal joints of the arm. METHODS: Subjects performed both a visually guided ramp tracking task using wrist flexion/extension and a whole arm circle tracking task using shoulder movement. Action tremor at the wrist or shoulder was computed as the SD of the tracking velocity. The ratio of wrist:arm tremor was then calculated to differentiate distal from proximal tremor in the tested arm. Frequency spectra of the records were also examined. RESULTS: During wrist tracking, AT in patients with multiple sclerosis contained a major frequency component at 4-5 Hz; the frequency was slightly lower during whole arm tracking. The ratio of wrist:arm tremor was significantly higher in the MS-tremor group. Of 12 tested arms, eight had tremor significantly weighted towards the distal joint, only one towards the proximal joint, and three had a ratio inside the control range. CONCLUSIONS: AT in the arms of patients with multiple sclerosis can be effectively differentiated into proximal or distal using these two different tracking tasks. Despite the variability of the effects of multiple sclerosis, most of the AT was distal rather than proximal in this group of patients. Possibly conduction block along the corticocerebellocortical pathways caused this distal tremor.
spellingShingle Liu, X
Miall, R
Aziz, T
Palace, J
Stein, J
Distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.
title Distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.
title_full Distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.
title_fullStr Distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.
title_full_unstemmed Distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.
title_short Distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks.
title_sort distal versus proximal arm tremor in multiple sclerosis assessed by visually guided tracking tasks
work_keys_str_mv AT liux distalversusproximalarmtremorinmultiplesclerosisassessedbyvisuallyguidedtrackingtasks
AT miallr distalversusproximalarmtremorinmultiplesclerosisassessedbyvisuallyguidedtrackingtasks
AT azizt distalversusproximalarmtremorinmultiplesclerosisassessedbyvisuallyguidedtrackingtasks
AT palacej distalversusproximalarmtremorinmultiplesclerosisassessedbyvisuallyguidedtrackingtasks
AT steinj distalversusproximalarmtremorinmultiplesclerosisassessedbyvisuallyguidedtrackingtasks