Altered movement trajectories and force control during object transport in Huntington's disease

Abstract

Individuals with Huntington's Disease (HD) have difficulty grasping and transporting objects, however, the extent to which specific impairments affect their performance is unknown. The present study examined the kinematics and force coordination during transport of an object in 12 subjects with HD and 12 age-matched controls. Subjects grasped an object between their thumb and index finger, transported it 25 cm forward, replaced and released it while their fingertip forces and the object's position were recorded. Five trials were performed with each of three weights (200 g, 400 g, and 800 g). While bradykinesia was evident in subjects with HD, this slowness was not consistently observed in all phases of the movement. The slowness of movement seen during the task appears to be due to impairments in sequencing and the movement strategies selected by the subjects. Compared to control subjects, subjects with HD produced highly curvilinear hand paths and more variable grip forces that were dependent on the weight of the object. Isometric force development and movement speed during transport were unaffected by the disease. The results suggest that prolonged task durations in subjects with HD are not necessarily due to slowness of movement, per se. These findings have clinical implications for understanding the task-specific nature of movement impairments in HD and developing effective intervention strategies.

Mouse models of Huntington's disease

“…In patients with HD, grip strength and grip force coordination are impaired and continue to decline with disease progression (Kouider et al, 2010;Quinn et al, 2001;Reilmann et al, 2001). In many HD mouse models, deficits in grip strength have been detected (Menalled et al, 2009a).…”

Early Huntington’s disease affects movements in transformed sensorimotor mappings

“…In complex movements, they have problems making transitions between movement segments (Gordon et al, 2000;Quinn, Reilmann, Marder, & Gordon, 2001;Schwarz, Fellows, Schaffrath, & Noth, 2001). In simple visually-guided movements, HD patients show fewer precision problems.…”

Wearable Sensors in Huntington Disease: A Pilot Study

“…Although valuable, the scale is subjective and categorical [2,3], requires significant training to administer correctly, and only captures impairment in clinic. Quantitative motor tests, notably "Q-Motor" assessments, have helped reduce subjectivity and improve sensitivity of motor assessments in HD [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Q-Motor assessments have demonstrated utility in tracking longitudinal progression of motor impairment [12,13] and as a supplemental measure in clinical trials [14].…”