Is There a Future for Depression Digital Motion Constructs in Psychiatry? (original) (raw)
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Retardation in depression: assessment by means of simple motor tasks
Journal of Affective Disorders, 1999
Background: psychomotor retardation in depression has mostly been assessed with tasks requiring both cognitive and motor processes. This study tested whether retardation could be measured if the cognitive demands of the task were minimal. Methods: 30 inpatients with a major depressive episode were compared one week after the start of antidepressant treatment, to 30 healthy control persons, matched for age, sex and educational level. Tests consisted of ten simple drawing tasks. The kinematics of drawing movements were recorded using a specially designed pen, a graphics tablet and a personal computer. Results: patients showed marked motor slowing on all the tasks: longer movement durations, longer pauses and lower velocities. Conclusions: psychomotor retardation in depressed patients treated with antidepressants occurs during drawing tasks, in which the cognitive demands are minimal and less than those required in the figure copying tasks used in our previous studies. Limitations: the use of co-medication can have influenced the results, although no correlations were found between the use of medication and the kinematic variables. Clinical relevance: detailed registration and analysis of drawing movements enable a more precise diagnosis of psychomotor disturbances in depressed patients.
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2012
Psychomotor disturbances have been regarded as cardinal symptoms of depression for centuries and their objective assessment may have predictive value with respect to the severity of clinical depression, treatment outcome and prognosis of the affective disorder. Methods Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A). Psychomotor indicators of activity and reactivity were objectively recorded and measured by means of computerized ultrasonographic craniocorpography.
Quantitative assessment of motor abnormalities in untreated patients with major depressive disorder
Journal of Affective Disorders, 2013
The primary purpose of this study was to examine motor physiology disturbances in a group of patients with untreated major depressive disorder using sensitive instrumental procedures. The secondary aim of the study was to examine the relationship of the affective symptom state to these motor assessments. The authors studied 40 individuals meeting DSM-IV criteria for unipolar major depressive disorder and 40 healthy comparison subjects. Electromechanical measures of force steadiness (FS), simple reaction time (RT), movement time (MT) and scaling of movement velocity to distance (velocity scaling, VS) were performed. The authors found that performance on the force steadiness, movement time, and velocity scaling measures was significantly poorer in the subjects with depression. There was no difference between the groups on the measure of reaction time. The force steadiness, reaction time, movement time, and velocity scaling scores were not associated with affective state. This study demonstrates that motor abnormalities suggestive of basal ganglia dysfunction occur in many patients with major depressive disorder, and that these abnormalities may exist in the absence of current psychotropic medication treatment. The finding of impaired movement time and velocity scaling in the presence of normal reaction time suggests a neuromotor or parkinsonian pathophysiology for slowness in depression.
Timing of movements in depressed patients and healthy controls
Journal of affective disorders, 1999
Background: Psychomotor disturbances are fundamental psychopathological features of major depression and observable components of behaviour. Human behaviour is segmented into action units with duration of a few seconds due to central nervous motor processing. Timing may depend on cognitive and emotional functions which are affected in depression. Therefore, time structure of action units in depressed patients was compared to healthy controls. Methods: Included were patients with major depression and melancholic features. Upper limb movements (total n 5 566) of depressed patients and matched controls were evaluated using videotaped interviews and frame-by-frame analysis with a temporal resolution of 40 ms. Results: Behaviour of depressed patients in interview sessions was organised in action units with a narrow time span of only a few seconds. Single, non-repetitive action units were significantly shorter (median 5 1.20 s) and repetitive units longer (median 5 4.92 s) in patients compared to controls (median 5 2.08 and 2.96, respectively). Limitations: Behaviour in interview sessions might differ from activities of daily living. Discussion: Altered temporal segmentation of movements appears to be an observable, measurable sign of melancholic depression and may allow further insights in pathophysiological dysfunctions of the disease. Clinical implications of these motor changes for differential diagnosis, course and treatment of depression are discussed and need further evaluation.
The Psychomotor Symptoms of Depression
American Journal of Psychiatry, 1997
Objective: The authors summarize current knowledge regarding the psychomotor symptoms of depression. Method: Findings from the objective quantification of psychomotor symptoms are reviewed, and methodological issues are considered. The contemporary empirical literature regarding the diagnostic, prognostic, and potential pathophysiologic significance of psychomotor symptoms is summarized. Results: It has been repeatedly shown that depressed patients differ from normal and psychiatric comparison groups with regard to objectively quantified gross motor activity, body movements, speech, and motor reaction time. Course of illness, diurnal variation, medication status, sex, and age are associated with agitation and retardation and should be controlled when one is studying psychomotor symptoms. Psychomotor symptoms in depression may have unique significance. They have high discriminative validity, may be the only symptoms of depression that distinguish depression subtypes, and are predictive of good response to tricyclic antidepressants. Results of brain imaging and biochemical studies link depression and motor symptoms to abnormalities in the basal ganglia and basal ganglia/thalamo-cortical circuits. Conclusions: The investigation of psychomotor disturbance in depression is specifically consistent with neo-Kraepelinian standards for the study of psychiatric disorders. Our current knowledge of psychomotor symptoms is conceptually obscure, yet a large body of evidence specifies their manifestation and supports their significance. Identifying the incidence of abnormal motor behaviors in depressed patients and assessing the component processes that accompany and determine their manifestation may be important advances in the study of psychomotor symptoms in depression. (Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:4-17)
Fine motor retardation and depression
Journal of Psychiatric Research, 1996
New computerized techniques allow the precise measurement of psychomotor retardation in patients with a major depressive episode (MDE). One such technique is the analysis of writing and drawing behaviour during figure copying tasks. In the present study, 22 inpatients with an MDE were compared to 22 normal controls. Three tasks were used: the drawing of lines and simple figures, the copying of complex figures and a task in which figures had to be rotated. Objectives were to provide support for earlier findings that the patients were slower than the controls and to explore the cognitive and motor processes involved. Two strategies were applied: analysis of the reaction time and movement time and their different components, and manipulation of the cognitive and motor demands. Patients showed considerable retardation with most of the kinematic variables. Motor deficits and cognitive slowing down contributed to this retardation. Cognitive difficulties increased with increasing complexity of the task. Copyright (• 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.
Motor Imagery in Unipolar Major Depression
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2014
Background: Motor imagery is a potential tool to investigate action representation, as it can provide insights into the processes of action planning and preparation. Recent studies suggest that depressed patients present specific impairment in mental rotation. The present study was designed to investigate the influence of unipolar depression on motor imagery ability.
Relationship between depression and movement quality in normal young adults
Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 2019
Somatic symptoms, such as hyposomnia and anorexia, can affect depression and result in decreased movement quality; however, the relationship between movement quality and somatic symptoms is unclear. The present study investigated the characteristics of this relationship using observable posture and movements. [Participants and Methods] Twenty healthy young adults (mean age 20.9 ± 0.4 years) participated in the study. First, we administered the Self-rating Depression Scale questionnaire to the participants. Second, a qualified physical therapist assessed the movement quality of the volunteers using the Body Awareness Rating Scale-Movement Quality and Experience. We classified the participants into high-and low-score groups based on their Self-rating Depression Scale scores and then analyzed the Body Awareness Rating Scale-Movement Quality and Experience scores in both groups. [Results] There was a significant difference in the movement quality between the Self-rating Depression Scale high-and low-score groups. The Self-rating Depression Scale total score ranged from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating a greater severity of depression. The low-score group had higher scores for the Body Awareness Rating Scale-Movement Quality and Experience than the high-score group in all items. [Conclusion] The present study showed that movement quality was related to symptoms of depression, thereby suggesting that early detection and treatment interventions for depression are possible by an assessment of movement quality.
Psychomotor symptoms of depression
The American journal of psychiatry, 1997
The authors summarize current knowledge regarding the psychomotor symptoms of depression. Findings from the objective quantification of psychomotor symptoms are reviewed, and methodological issues are considered. The contemporary empirical literature regarding the diagnostic, prognostic, and potential pathophysiologic significance of psychomotor symptoms is summarized. It has been repeatedly shown that depressed patients differ from normal and psychiatric comparison groups with regard to objectively quantified gross motor activity, body movements, speech, and motor reaction time. Course of illness, diurnal variation, medication status, sex, and age are associated with agitation and retardation and should be controlled when one is studying psychomotor symptoms. Psychomotor symptoms in depression may have unique significance. They have high discriminative validity, may be the only symptoms of depression that distinguish depression subtypes, and are predictive of good response to tricy...