Medication improves velocity, reaction time, and movement time but not amplitude or error during memory‐guided reaching in Parkinson's disease

• Published in: Physiological reports Vol. 12; no. 17; pp. e16150 - n/a
• Main Authors: Trevarrow, Michael P., Munoz, Miranda J., Rivera, Yessenia M., Arora, Rishabh, Drane, Quentin H., Pal, Gian D., Verhagen Metman, Leonard, Goelz, Lisa C., Corcos, Daniel M., David, Fabian J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-09-2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Aged; Antiparkinson Agents - administration & dosage; Antiparkinson Agents - therapeutic use; antiparkinson medication; Cognitive ability; Data collection; Eye movements; Female; Humans; Investigations; Male; Memory; Memory - drug effects; Mental task performance; Middle Aged; motor control; Motor task performance; Movement; Movement disorders; Neurodegenerative diseases; Original; Parkinson Disease - drug therapy; Parkinson Disease - physiopathology; Parkinson's disease; Psychomotor Performance - drug effects; reaching; Reaction Time - drug effects; Reaction time task; Regular Manuscript; Retention; Velocity; Canada; reaching; Parkinson's disease; antiparkinson medication; motor control
• ISSN: 2051-817X; 2051-817X
• DOI: 10.14814/phy2.16150

The motor impairments experienced by people with Parkinson's disease (PD) are exacerbated during memory‐guided movements. Despite this, the effect of antiparkinson medication on memory‐guided movements has not been elucidated. We evaluated the effect of antiparkinson medication on motor control during a memory‐guided reaching task with short and long retention delays in participants with PD and compared performance to age‐matched healthy control (HC) participants. Thirty‐two participants with PD completed the motor section of the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS III) and performed a memory‐guided reaching task with two retention delays (0.5 s and 5 s) while on and off medication. Thirteen HC participants completed the MDS‐UPDRS III and performed the memory‐guided reaching task. In the task, medication increased movement velocity, decreased movement time, and decreased reaction time toward what was seen in the HC. However, movement amplitude and reaching error were unaffected by medication. Shorter retention delays increased movement velocity and amplitude, decreased movement time, and decreased error, but increased reaction times in the participants with PD and HC. Together, these results imply that antiparkinson medication is more effective at altering the neurophysiological mechanisms controlling movement velocity and reaction time compared with other aspects of movement control.