Article

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the role of visual
information on gait control in people with Parkinson's disease as they crossed
over obstacles. Twelve healthy individuals, and 12 patients with mild to moderate
Parkinson's disease, walked at their preferred speeds along a walkway and stepped
over obstacles of varying heights (ankle height or half-knee height), under three
visual sampling conditions: dynamic (normal lighting), static (static visual
samples, similar to stroboscopic lighting), and voluntary visual sampling.
Subjects wore liquid crystal glasses for visual manipulation. In the static
visual sampling condition only, the patients with Parkinson's disease made
contact with the obstacle more often than did the control subjects. In the
successful trials, the patients increased their crossing step width in the static
visual sampling condition as compared to the dynamic and voluntary visual
sampling conditions; the control group maintained the same step width for all
visual sampling conditions. The patients showed lower horizontal mean velocity
values during obstacle crossing than did the controls. The patients with
Parkinson's disease were more dependent on optic flow information for successful
task and postural stability than were the control subjects. Bradykinesia
influenced obstacle crossing in the patients with Parkinson's disease.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS