Article

The present study examined how asymmetrical motor symptomatology helps predict
the pattern of perceptual judgements of body-scaled aperture width in lateralised
Parkinson's disease (PD). Eleven patients with PD predominantly affecting the
left side of their body (LPD), 16 patients with PD predominantly affecting their
right side (RPD), and 16 healthy controls made forced-choice judgements about
whether or not they would fit without turning their shoulders through a
life-sized schematic doorway shown on a large screen. Whereas control and LPD
groups made accurate estimations of body-scaled aperture width, RPD patients
significantly underestimated aperture width relative to their body, perceiving
doorways on average that were 12% narrower than their bodies as wide enough to
allow them to pass through without rotation. Across all patients, estimates of
body-scaled aperture width correlated with ratio of right-to-left symptom
severity. These perceptual errors may indicate a mismatch between the neural
representation of external space and that of body size in PD.
CI - Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS