The Effect of Deprenyl Treatment on Directional and Velocity Control of Arm Movement in Patients with Early Stages of Parkinsonʼs Disease

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Abstract
Visual motor control (VMC) of arm movements is disturbed in patients with Parkinson's disease. The effect of antiparkinsonian medications on VMC is unknown. To assess the effect of deprenyl, a monoamine oxidase type B inhibitor, on VMC in the early stages of parkinsonism. Fourteen recently diagnosed, unmedicated patients with primary degenerative parkinsonism, mean age 61.9 +/- 2.8 years, were assessed by a computerized VMC system for tracking and tracing on a sine wave, circle, and square. Score was given for total time of test performance, directional error, arm velocity, and number of interruptions in tracking. All patients performed the first VMC test at baseline, prior to any antiparkinsonian treatment. The second test was performed after a month of treatment with 2.5 mg/d of deprenyl, and the third test was done after an additional month of treatment with 10 mg/d of deprenyl. Results were compared with 15 healthy volunteers with a mean age of 63.1 +/- 1.2 years. Parkinsonian patients performed significantly poorer on the VMC when compared to controls. Tracing was more affected than tracking. Tracing total time was almost twice as long as for controls (p < .0005). Treatment with 2.5 mg/d and 10 mg/d of deprenyl improved performance significantly (p < .05 and p < .005, respectively). Velocity of arm movement was not affected by deprenyl treatment in either dose. Directional control (tracing), severely disturbed in the parkinsonian group, improved back to the performance of healthy controls after 10 mg/d of deprenyl. In recently diagnosed parkinsonian patients internally guided VMC tasks were disturbed more than externally guided ones. Deprenyl treatment selectively improved directional control of arm movement in a dose related manner.

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