1 1 Axial rotation in Parkinson’s disease

We have investigated the ability of parkinsonian patients to perform a rotation around the longitudinal axis of the body. Three questions were raised. Is the body rotation impaired in PD? Is there a level of the kinematic chain from the head to the foot at which the impairment is more severe? Is the deficit related to the general slowness of movement in Parkinson’s disease? Kinematic data were recorded. The temporal organization of body rotation during gait initiation was analyzed in 10 parkinsonian patients, they were all at an advanced stage of the disease and all had experienced falls and freezing during their daily life, and 5 control subjects. The latency of the onset of the rotation of each segment was measured by taking the onset of the postural phase of step initiation as reference value. Locomotor variables were also analyzed. The results indicate that body rotation is impaired in parkinsonians, since the delay in the onset of the rotation of each segment is higher than that of control subjects. Moreover, in patients there is a specific uncoupling in the onset of shoulder and pelvis segment rotation