Effect of parkinson’s disease on audiovisual reaction time in indian population

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia. Objective : To evaluate sensorimotor processing in the CNS in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Method : Reaction time serves as an index of psychomotor performance useful for estimating the severity of disease. Reaction time of 30 controls in age group 50-70 years and 30 age-matched Parkinson’s patients on treatment was taken with the help of a reaction time apparatus. Results : An increase in both simple VRT and ART was found in Parkinson’s patients when compared to controls (p<0.001). Conclusion : This increase in reaction time may be attributed to defect in motor programming and reduced signal-to-noise ratio due to dopamine deficiency. Emphasis is also laid on role of non-dopaminergic pathways mediating reaction time.