Department of Neurological Sciences, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA 94305 and *Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Concurrent resting and postural tremors of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were monitored using transducers responding to angular velocity of rotation. Spectra and correlation functions were calculated for each pair of records.
When concurrent tremor spectra share indistinguishable fundamental frequencies, have statistically significant peaks in their coherence spectra at those fundamental frequencies, and show significant peaks in their cross-correlation functions near zero delay, they are classified as linearly dependent. When such tremor records are superimposed, their phase-locked behaviour is evident.
Pairs of correlated concurrent tremors, of varying duration, have been observed in both hands, both feet and in either hand and the contralateral or ipsilateral foot. Correlated tremors may be concurrent with other tremors that are independent. We hypothesize that correlated Parkinson tremors arise from one or more common (and possibly unilateral) central sources.
