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The protocol can be applied to a variety of facial movements, including speaking. Future works could address the use of the protocol in subjects with disorders and the integrated analysis of kinematic parameters and voice spectrography.

While clumsiness in gross movements manifests mainly as slow, less efficient movements, it manifests as high velocity and inaccurate movements in fine motor tasks such as drawing.

Aims. The realization of an experimental set-up for the quantitative and objective description of drawing using optoelectronic systems, which could be used when a quantification of the realization of specific drawing tests is required. Methods. Healthy subjects, subjects with Parkinson's Disease and subjects with Parkinson's Disease and Dementia were evaluated by the Mini Mental Scale Evaluation and by a new approach to the Clock Drawing Test, based on an optoelectronic acquisition. The new protocol hereby described aims to define a parameter related to the movement kinematics in the Clock Drawing test execution. Results. The experimental set-up revealed to be valid introducing new objective measurements beside the subjective Clock Drawing Test. This paper suggests the applicability of this protocol to other fields of motor and cognitive valuation, as well as the introduction of new parameters related to the graphic movement.

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Slow movements and atypical patterns of muscle activation are well-known features of Down Syndrome (DS). Some studies attribute these features to a deficit in voluntary motor commands and preprogramming of actions, that lead subjects with DS to be more reliant on feedback control. In the present study, we evaluated the movement strategies of 13 adult subjects with DS and of 22 age-matched controls (N) during an arm tapping task. By means of quantitative motion analysis, our aim was to describe movement differences in DS respect to typical population and provide a means of interpreting such differences in terms of the underlying different control processes. The results highlighted distinct motor strategies for the tapping task in the two groups, with DS relying more on the trunk motion and N relying on the elbow motion to accomplish the task. Furthermore, DS corrected their wrist trajectory more than N subjects, giving shape to multi-peaked velocity profiles. Longer duration of the trials and a higher index of curvature were found in DS. The results suggest that subjects with DS rely more on feedback control, whereas they have problems with movement planning and feed-forward control. The different strategy operated by subjects with DS leads to a different task performance.

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