Kinematic analysis of the reach to grasp movement in Parkinsons and Huntingtons disease subjects

This experiment investigates the kinematic characteristics of the reach to grasp movement of Parkinsons and Huntingtons disease subjects under two different experimental conditions. In the first condition subjects were required to perform the movement at a normal speed, while in the second condition they were required to perform the movement as fast as possible. Results showed that the kinematic parameterization of movement in Parkinsons disease subjects did not differ from that of age-matched control subjects for both the normal and the fast condition. However, the performances of Huntingtons disease subjects appeared to be different when compared to the other two groups. Differences were mainly related to Huntingtons disease patients inability to properly define the temporal features of the movements.