[P2] Poster: Day 2

[P2-29] Contributions of cognitive abilities and attention to Motor Timing in Parkinson’s Disease

*Elisa M. Gallego Hiroyasu¹, Yuko Yotsumoto², Giovanna Mioni³ (1. Keio University (Japan), 2. The University of Tokyo (Japan), 3. Universita di Padova (Italy))

Keywords:

Parkinsons,Motor Timing

Finger tapping tasks are often employed to measure the rhythm of the internal clock. These, however, are susceptible to influences from both motor symptoms and cognitive functions which makes interpreting results difficult. This study investigates the influence of specific cognitive functions on finger tapping in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). In contrast to the widespread use of tools like the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), our focus lies on specific cognitive domains crucial to finger tapping—Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Trail Making Test (TMT). PD patients engaged in spontaneous tapping and 1-second paced tapping tasks. Cognitive functions were assessed using the MoCA for general cognitive abilities and TMT-A for attention and processing speed. Bayesian model comparisons were employed to evaluate 12 different models predicting the interval between taps and variability of taps, for each task. The results confirmed previous findings of a faster tapping rate and increased variability in free tapping and 1-second tapping tasks among PD patients. Furthermore, distinct trends emerged concerning MoCA and TMT-A performance and their effect on tapping tasks, differentiating between PD patients and healthy controls.