Perception of action capabilities in Parkinson's disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Perception of Reachability, Grasp Ability and Aperture passing in people with Parkinson’s Disease and Typically Ageing Older Adults
IRAS ID
237405
Contact name
Sally Linkenauger
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
A sample of Parkinson’s disease patients and healthy age-matched controls will engage in a series of empirically validated tasks to assess their perceptions of their reachability, grasp ability and aperture passing action capabilities.
Prior to perceptual assessment participants will be required to complete a demographic questionnaire and where appropriate provide clinical information.
Participants will complete a cognitive and mood assessment. The cognitive assessment, comprising a straightforward quiz, will examine brain functions such as memory and planning, whilst the mood assessment will assess the presence of depressive mood. Participants will also complete a simple vision test and a vision test that analyses participant’s ability to see in 3D. A measure of PD patient’s physical impairment will be obtained by completion of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale.
Completion of the perceptual tasks will require participants to make the following judgements: 1) the farthest point within reach of their dominant hand, 2) the maximum size block they would be able to grasp and 3) the point at which they can just fit their dominant hand through the aperture. Following these assessments, the actual reachability, grasp ability and aperture passing will be measured using the laboratory equipment.
Approximately, twelve months following this phase participants will be invited to complete phase 2. Phase 2 will investigate the ability to update their perceptions of action capabilities to accommodate for constraints placed on their ability to perform actions. Participants will experience either a small, normal, large, or variable hand/arm size in virtual reality. Then as in the initial baseline assessment to make the following judgements: 1) the farthest point within reach of their dominant hand, 2) the maximum size block they would be able to grasp and 3) the point at which they can just fit their dominant hand through the aperture, for each condition.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0007
Date of REC Opinion
7 Mar 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion