Handwriting abnormalities, such as difficulty in signing and micrographia, are motor deficits frequently encountered by Parkinson Disease (PD) patients which may deteriorate their quality of life. A recent trial examining the effectiveness of a 4-week handwriting exercise in PD patients reported significant improvements in the writing speed, the subjective rating scale and the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part III (motor examination) scores compared to the control. This study demonstrated that practicing writing alphabets made up of dots which served as visual cues regularly could improve manual fine motor skills through repetitive stimulation of the sensory feedback loops. It may in turn promote corticomotor excitation and induce neuroplasticity, ameliorating motor symptoms of PD. Thus, handwriting exercise represents an effective and feasible rehabilitative approach to facilitate motor learning and improve fine motor function in PD patients.

Keywords: Parkinson disease, handwriting exercise, motor function

Reference

Vorasoot N et al. J Clin Neurosci. 2020;72.