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Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1987 Oct;50(10):1267–1273. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.50.10.1267

Programming and execution of sequential movements in Parkinson's disease.

R D Rafal 1, A W Inhoff 1, J H Friedman 1, E Bernstein 1
PMCID: PMC1032448  PMID: 3681305

Abstract

In separate blocks of a simple reaction time (RT) task, eight Parkinsonian and eight control subjects executed finger press sequences with one (index finger), two (index finger-ring) or three (index finger-ring-middle) components. Programming was inferred from the increase latency to initiate the first component as a function of the length of the entire sequence; and from the systematic decrease in inter-response latencies for the second and third components. Overall RT was slower in the Parkinsonians but the programming effects were comparable in the two groups. Intact basal ganglia function appears not to be necessary for programming sequential finger movements, or retrieving subprograms for execution.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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