Purpose: The aim of the study vas to compare the direction-specific postural muscle responses between patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy control subjects. Methods: Six patients with PD and six age-matched healthy subjects were recruited in this study. Postural responses were tested using the Smart Balance Master system with an eight-channel electromyography (EMG). The stimuli were 4° upward or downward platform tilts at 50°/s. Ten consecutive trials were given for each direction of platform tilts. EMG activities of the tibialis anterior, hamstrings, gastrocnemius and quadriceps in the left leg were recorded. Results: Significant effects of perturbation direction on the onset latencies were found for muscles in both groups (p<0.05) with an exception for the hamstrings muscle (p=0.082). The PD group showed a trend towards increasing the time lag in onset latencies between proximal and distal leg muscles, compared to the control group. The temporal reversals were also observed more frequently in the PD group than the control group. There was a significant group by direction interaction effect on the amplitude of the gastrocnemius muscle activity (p=0.006). Conclusions: The results showed that PD patients retain direction-specific muscle responses to platform rotation perturbations However, more temporal reversals and a trend toward increased onset latency and increased muscle response amplitude were observed in the PD group.
Purpose: The aim of the study vas to compare the direction-specific postural muscle responses between patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy control subjects. Methods: Six patients with PD and six age-matched healthy subjects were recruited in this study. Postural responses were tested using the Smart Balance Master system with an eight-channel electromyography (EMG). The stimuli were 4° upward or downward platform tilts at 50°/s. Ten consecutive trials were given for each direction of platform tilts. EMG activities of the tibialis anterior, hamstrings, gastrocnemius and quadriceps in the left leg were recorded. Results: Significant effects of perturbation direction on the onset latencies were found for muscles in both groups (p<0.05) with an exception for the hamstrings muscle (p=0.082). The PD group showed a trend towards increasing the time lag in onset latencies between proximal and distal leg muscles, compared to the control group. The temporal reversals were also observed more frequently in the PD group than the control group. There was a significant group by direction interaction effect on the amplitude of the gastrocnemius muscle activity (p=0.006). Conclusions: The results showed that PD patients retain direction-specific muscle responses to platform rotation perturbations However, more temporal reversals and a trend toward increased onset latency and increased muscle response amplitude were observed in the PD group.