Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment
Abstract Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) may exhibit poorer performance in visuomotor tasks than healthy individuals, particularly under conditions with high cognitive load. Few studies have examined reaching movements in MCI and did so without assessing susceptibility to distractor in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85785-7 |
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| author | Ciro Rosario Ilardi Giovanni Federico Marco La Marra Raffaella Amato Alessandro Iavarone Andrea Soricelli Gabriella Santangelo Sergio Chieffi |
| author_facet | Ciro Rosario Ilardi Giovanni Federico Marco La Marra Raffaella Amato Alessandro Iavarone Andrea Soricelli Gabriella Santangelo Sergio Chieffi |
| author_sort | Ciro Rosario Ilardi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) may exhibit poorer performance in visuomotor tasks than healthy individuals, particularly under conditions with high cognitive load. Few studies have examined reaching movements in MCI and did so without assessing susceptibility to distractor interference. This proof-of-concept study analyzed the kinematics of visually guided reaching movements towards a target dot placed along the participants’ midsagittal/reaching axis. Movements were performed with and without a visual distractor (flanker) at various distances from the reaching axis. Participants were instructed to avoid “touching” the flanker during movement execution. The whole sample included 11 patients with MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease, 10 healthy older adults, and 12 healthy young adults, all right-handed. Patients with MCI performed reaching movements whose trajectories deviated significantly away from the flanker, especially when it was 1 mm away, with less consistent trajectories than controls. Also, our results suggest that trajectory curvature may discriminate between patients with MCI and healthy older adults. The analysis of reaching movements under conditions of visual interference may enhance the diagnosis of MCI, underscoring the need for multidimensional assessments incorporating both cognitive and motor domains. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-065600312cbd404586979c2f91ba73da |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-065600312cbd404586979c2f91ba73da2025-01-19T12:17:42ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111410.1038/s41598-025-85785-7Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairmentCiro Rosario Ilardi0Giovanni Federico1Marco La Marra2Raffaella Amato3Alessandro Iavarone4Andrea Soricelli5Gabriella Santangelo6Sergio Chieffi7IRCCS SYNLAB SDNIRCCS SYNLAB SDNDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”Neurological Unit, CTO Hospital, AORN ‘Ospedali Dei Colli’Neurological Unit, CTO Hospital, AORN ‘Ospedali Dei Colli’IRCCS SYNLAB SDNDepartment of Psychology, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”Abstract Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) may exhibit poorer performance in visuomotor tasks than healthy individuals, particularly under conditions with high cognitive load. Few studies have examined reaching movements in MCI and did so without assessing susceptibility to distractor interference. This proof-of-concept study analyzed the kinematics of visually guided reaching movements towards a target dot placed along the participants’ midsagittal/reaching axis. Movements were performed with and without a visual distractor (flanker) at various distances from the reaching axis. Participants were instructed to avoid “touching” the flanker during movement execution. The whole sample included 11 patients with MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease, 10 healthy older adults, and 12 healthy young adults, all right-handed. Patients with MCI performed reaching movements whose trajectories deviated significantly away from the flanker, especially when it was 1 mm away, with less consistent trajectories than controls. Also, our results suggest that trajectory curvature may discriminate between patients with MCI and healthy older adults. The analysis of reaching movements under conditions of visual interference may enhance the diagnosis of MCI, underscoring the need for multidimensional assessments incorporating both cognitive and motor domains.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85785-7Mild cognitive impairmentAlzheimer’s diseaseVisuomotorReachingKinematicsInterference |
| spellingShingle | Ciro Rosario Ilardi Giovanni Federico Marco La Marra Raffaella Amato Alessandro Iavarone Andrea Soricelli Gabriella Santangelo Sergio Chieffi Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment Scientific Reports Mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer’s disease Visuomotor Reaching Kinematics Interference |
| title | Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment |
| title_full | Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment |
| title_fullStr | Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment |
| title_short | Deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment |
| title_sort | deficits in reaching movements under visual interference as a novel diagnostic marker for mild cognitive impairment |
| topic | Mild cognitive impairment Alzheimer’s disease Visuomotor Reaching Kinematics Interference |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85785-7 |
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