Visual Temporal Perception in Parkinson's Disease Analyzed Using a Computer-Generated Graphical Tool

Matthew Bernardinis, Seyed Farokh Atashzar, Mandar Jog, Rajni V. Patel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease (PD) are present in all stages of the disease, significantly affecting patient quality of life. Some previous work on temporal perception has seen abnormalities occurring in PD, highlighting the Basal Ganglia's (BG) role on this perception. However, these studies have not considered patient perceptual ability based on the tested time scale, even though the BG's postulated influence on temporal processing is limited to certain time scales. Furthermore, it is not clear what effect Levodopa medication has on temporal perception for PD patients. This study examines the perception of vision-based temporal perception in different time scales for PD patients, and the effect of Levodopa medication via a two-forced alternative choice task using a computer-generated graphical tool. For this, perceptual ability (quantified using the subject's difference threshold obtained through cumulative Gaussian functions) of 21 patients with PD was evaluated OFF and ON Levodopa medication, compared to 17 age-matched healthy participants. Individuals with PD displayed no impairments in perceiving time in the range of milliseconds, however in the range of seconds temporal perception was significantly impaired. This provides evidence for current timing models involving cerebellar control for millisecond timing, and BG influenced timing in the range of seconds to minutes. Furthermore, Levodopa showed no significant effects on visual temporal discrimination.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication9th International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER 2019
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages65-68
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781538679210
DOIs
StatePublished - May 16 2019
Event9th International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER 2019 - San Francisco, United States
Duration: Mar 20 2019Mar 23 2019

Publication series

NameInternational IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER
Volume2019-March
ISSN (Print)1948-3546
ISSN (Electronic)1948-3554

Conference

Conference9th International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period3/20/193/23/19

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Mechanical Engineering

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