However, non-motor symptoms are also recently becoming recognized as a major part of the disease. Parkinson's disease (PD) is classically characterized by a decline in motor function, marked by the hallmark symptoms of akinesia, bradykinesia, rigidity and tremor as well as impaired posture and balance. Other: Investigation of self-perception in Parkinson's disease In this study the investigators will observe the basic (uni-sensory) and the multisensory integration of visual and vestibular perception of self-motion within the same experiment. Furthermore, based on both visual and vestibular abnormalities (described above) the basic (uni-sensory) performance may also be degraded in PD. This can have profound effects on basic motor functions. The investigators hypothesize, based on the apparent over-dependence in PD on visual cues that PD patients will demonstrate defective multisensory integration. Yet, while multisensory integration is an active topic of research in normal brain function, with well-established tools, it has not been studied in PD. Many human and animal studies have demonstrated near optimal cue-integration. Theoretical studies, based on Bayesian statistics, have provided a framework to study multisensory-integration with predictions for an 'optimal' strategy. The integration of information from different modalities ("multisensory integration") is vital for intact perception of the world.
Dysfunction in this process may contribute to disturbed postural control and thus result in gait abnormalities and falls which are common as Parkinson's disease progresses, is difficult to treat and causes disability and a loss of independence. Control of the movement of our bodies in space involves perception of self-motion which is dependent on the processing and integration of multimodality information from the kinesthetic, proprioceptive, visual (mostly optic flow) and vestibular systems. Abnormal perception in the visual and in other domains is increasingly being recognized.
Parkinson's Disease as well as being a disorder of motor function also causes a wide range of non-motor disturbances many of which are involved in the prodromal stage prior to the onset of motor symptoms.
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