Examining predictors of motor imagery timing in Parkinson's Disease

Poster Session D - Monday, April 15, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Kathryn Lambert¹, Anthony Singhal¹, Ada Leung¹; ¹University of Alberta

People with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) often exhibit greater motor impairments on one side of the body. It is unclear if these differences in impairment also occur during motor imagery. The present study examined if individuals with PD imagine movements differently according to the side of the body involved in the imagery task. 36 participants with PD (12 F) completed a battery of tests that measured different domains of motor imagery ability. To measure motor imagery timing, participants were timed as they physically moved several blocks across a wooden box using either their more or less affected hand. Participants were then timed as they imagined completing the same task. Cognitive function was screened using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Linear mixed effects modelling was employed to determine predictors of performance on the timing task. Participants were more likely to overestimate the physical speed of their movements when the task involved their more affected side (p = 0.001). This overestimation regardless of whether the involved hand was their dominant or non-dominant hand. Higher motor imagery vividness (p = 0.010) predicted greater overestimation of the more affected hand’s physical speed. In contrast, higher cognitive function (p = 0.001) predicted a decrease in overestimation. Taken together, these results indicate that the process of motor imagery differs in people with PD depending on whether the imagined movements involve their more versus less affected side.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Motor control