Kinematic Analysis of Handwriting Movements in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Depression and Healthy Subjects

Abstract

A variety of studies have demonstrated that motor disorders, parkinsonism and extrapyramidal motor symptoms (EPMS) are common in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Several studies have reported an association of EPMS with severity, progression and poor prognosis of AD. The majority of these studies used clinical assessments for the rating of EPMS. In this study, kinematic handwriting analysis was used to quantify differences in fine hand motor function in patients with probable AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI, as an assumed initial stage of AD) compared to depressed patients and healthy controls. Both patients with MCI and patients with probable AD exhibited loss of fine motor performance. Movements of AD patients were significantly less regular than those of healthy controls.

Motor Function in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer’s Disease

“…The BBS, FES and Tinetti gait score all reached ceiling effects or close to ceiling effects in all diagnostic groups indicating that these tests may not cover the whole spectrum of functioning. Others have evaluated timed fi ne motor function and used more sophisticated equipment [7,8,30] , while in the present study performance-based tests were used, refl ecting more functional activities common in daily life. Schröter et al [30] who used a digitising tablet to analyse movements were able to quantify even very small differences in performance.…”

“…Others have evaluated timed fi ne motor function and used more sophisticated equipment [7,8,30] , while in the present study performance-based tests were used, refl ecting more functional activities common in daily life. Schröter et al [30] who used a digitising tablet to analyse movements were able to quantify even very small differences in performance. However, clinical tests eliciting continuous data appear sensitive enough to uncover differences between these diagnostic groups (TWW, TUG and diffTUG).…”

Mild Cognitive Impairment Is Associated with Impaired Visual-Motor Planning When Visual Stimuli and Actions Are Incongruent

“…Moreover, compared to controls, they have been observed to have impaired motor function in upper and lower extremity performance measures [10]. They perform worse than age-matched adults in limb coordination [11], fine motor movements [2,12], complex (non-standard) motor movements [2], and their goal-directed reaching [13]. …”

Analyse automatique de l’écriture manuscrite en ligne pour la détection précoce des pathologies neurodégénératives

“…Actuellement, certains symptômes peuvent être soignés mais il n'existe pas encore de traitement curatif. Parmi les symptômes les plus répandus, on peut citer les troubles de la mémoire, l'aphasie, la bradykinésie, le trouble de l'équilibre, et la dysorthographie [4].…”