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Medical and Biological Engineering and ComputingVolume 38, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 68-73

Computerised evaluation of cognitive and motor function(Article)

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  • aDept. EECS, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
  • bDept. Neurology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Abstract

In this paper, we present a clinical study of computerised tracking in the evaluation of cognitive and motor function. We investigate its use in the assessment of effectiveness of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) as well as in the process of following the progress of Alzheimer's disease (AD). To simplify the experiments, we introduce real-time adaptation of the target speed. In the study with epileptic patients, three result groups are compared: blood levels of AEDs, scores on standard neuropsychological tests, and scores on computerised tracking and reaction time tests. It is found that the computerised tests are repeatable, reliable and sensitive and may therefore be useful in the evaluation of epilepsy treatment. For example, while the blood levels associated with AEDs lie in the therapeutic range, variations in the optimal speed (OS) between 0.9 and 1.1 (expressed in relative units) are recorded. To significantly simplify the protocol for AD patients while preserving its main features, we introduce signal-processing techniques into the data analysis. Local signal property characteristics for AD are found which indicate that the preview tracking of an AD patient is similar to the non-preview tracking of a healthy control. This result is expected since the working memory, which is involved in movement planning, is impaired in AD. In non-preview tracking, healthy control subjects are mostly in tracking mode 1 and have a mean mode duration of 600 ms. In preview tracking, AD patients are mostly in mode 2 with a mean mode duration of 600 ms.

Author keywords

Alzheimer's diseaseBiomedical computingClinical engineeringComputerised trackingData acquisitionEpilepsyHuman performance analysisSignal analysisWorking memory model

Indexed keywords

EMTREE drug terms:anticonvulsive agentcarbamazepinephenytoinvalproic acid
EMTREE medical terms:adultagedAlzheimer diseasearticlecognitioncomputer analysiscontrolled studydata analysisdiagnostic accuracydisease coursedrug blood levelepilepsyevaluationeye trackinghumanmajor clinical studymotor performanceneuropsychological testreaction timesignal processing
Engineering controlled terms:Handicapped personsMedical computingNeurophysiologyPhysiological modelsPsychophysiologySignal processingSubjective testing
Engineering uncontrolled terms:Alzheimer's diseaseSignal analysis
Engineering main heading:Computer aided diagnosis

Chemicals and CAS Registry Numbers:

carbamazepine, 298-46-4, 8047-84-5; phenytoin, 57-41-0, 630-93-3; valproic acid, 1069-66-5, 99-66-1

Funding details

Funding sponsor Funding number Acronym
University of Illinois at ChicagoUIC
  • 1

    Ac~Tlowledgmen~The authors would like to acknowledge the help and co-operation of the patients~ healthy volunteers and staff of the Neurology Clinic~ University of Illinois at Chicago. We would also like to thank the anonymous referees for their very useful comments and suggestions.

  • ISSN: 01400118
  • CODEN: MBECD
  • Source Type: Journal
  • Original language: English
  • DOI: 10.1007/BF02344691
  • PubMed ID: 10829393
  • Document Type: Article
  • Publisher: Peter Peregrinus Ltd

  Kisacanin, B.; Dept. EECS, University of Illinois at Chicago, United States;
© Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Cited by 3 documents

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(2012) Neuroinformatics
O'Reilly, C. , Plamondon, R.
Can computer mice be used as low-cost devices for the acquisition of planar human movement velocity signals?
(2011) Behavior Research Methods
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