Obstacle Avoidance amongst Parkinson Disease Patients Is Challenged in a Threatening Context

Figure 4

(a) Gait initiation time for neurologically normal older adults (CTRL; 𝑛=10), the MEDS off Parkinson disease patients (OFF; 𝑛=10), and the same patients with normal medication levels restored (ON; 𝑛=10). Unload time is the elapsed time between the imperative “go” stimulus and a zero reading for vertical force from one of the force plate pair. (b) Horizontal centre of mass velocity for two strides prior to obstacle crossing stride for neurologically normal older adults (CTRL; 𝑛=10), the MEDS off Parkinson disease patients (OFF; 𝑛=10), and the same patients with normal medication levels restored (ON; 𝑛=10). G and T indicate significant main effects (𝑃<.017) for group and threat, while G×T indicates a significant interaction (𝑃<.017) of group and threat effects.

(a)

(b)