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Cerebellar dyssynergia in humans—A quantitative analysis
Author(s) -
Miller Robert G.,
Freund HansJ.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410080605
Subject(s) - proprioception , physical medicine and rehabilitation , distortion (music) , tracking (education) , psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , audiology , medicine , amplifier , computer network , pedagogy , bandwidth (computing)
Patients with cerebellar lesions and limb ataxia performed two types of continuous tracking tasks involving flexion and extension of the index finger. In both tasks, patients were provided cutaneous and proprioceptive cues, but visual feedback was given in the first task (visual tracking) and not in the second (arbitrarily termed proprioceptive tracking). Raw records and Fourier‐analyzed power spectra were compared with results in normal controls. Harmonic distortion was determined for each task. In all patients, as well as normal subjects, tracking performance was markedly improved and harmonic distortion substantially reduced during proprioceptive tracking. This surprising finding may result from a much shorter feedback loop for proprioceptive stimuli compared to visual stimuli. The tracking records, power spectra analysis, and determination of harmonic distortion provide both qualitative and quantitative data in patients with dyssynergia.