The impact of tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors on handwriting movements of patients with depression

Tucha, Oliver; Putzhammer, Albert; Aschenbrenner, Steffen; Eichhammer, Peter; Sartor, Heino; Klein, H. E.; Lange, Klaus W.

doi:10.1055/s-2003-825536

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Other researchers argue that there is an eff ect of medication on drawing and writing tasks ( Tigges, Mergl, Frodl, Meisenzahl, Gallinat, Schröter, et al, 2000 ;Caligiuri, Teulings, Filoteo, Song, & Lohr, 2006 ;Caligiuri, Teulings, Dean, Niculescu, & Lohr, 2009 ). According to other fi ndings, tricyclic antidepressants cause motor slowing (lower maximum velocity), increase movement time, reduced automatisation of movement, and reduced acceleration of descending strokes ( Tucha, Aschenbremmer, Eichhammer, Putzhammer, Sartor, Klein, et al, 2002 ). Therefore, medication may have a considerable infl uence on handwriting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little Evidence for the Graphical Markers of Depression

Gawda

2013

Percept Mot Skills

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The purpose was to test whether specific characteristics of handwriting can distinguish patients diagnosed with major depression from healthy controls and patients with bipolar disorder. Handwriting samples from 30 patients with major depressive disorder and 30 patients in the bipolar depressive phase were compared to samples from 30 patients in the bipolar manic phase and 60 healthy controls. Forensic document experts examined all 150 written samples of the same text and empirically measured graphical aspects potentially related to depression, such as direction of the baseline, pen pressure, tremor, forms of the letters 'm', 'n', 'a', and 'o', sizes of the letters and writing zones, the initial and final shapes of letters, slant, and impulse. Three handwriting parameters of 32 examined differed significantly between controls and patients with depression (major depression or depressed bipolar patients). However, there were no statistically significant differences in these parameters between depressed patients and bipolar patients in the manic phase, indicating that these handwriting characteristics cannot distinguish depressed patients from manic patients. The main hypothesis, that psychomotor slowing is visible in handwriting, was not confirmed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little Evidence for the Graphical Markers of Depression

Gawda

2013

Percept Mot Skills

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“…This study dissociated aspects of psychomotor slowing in depression using an innovative digital CDT in younger and older adults. Unlike previous studies (Caligiuri et al, 2003; Pier et al, 2004b, 2004c; Sabbe et al, 1999; Tucha et al, 2002), we investigated performance across distinct age bands of unmedicated individuals to examine speed in MDD without the confounding effects of medication-related slowing. Furthermore, we assessed different aspects of psychomotor speed within the same task and capitalized on increasing levels of difficulty inherent in the task (i.e., internal/Command versus external/Copy conditions), eliminating confounds due to different test measures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Psychomotor speed, i.e., timed activity requiring “movement or action” including perceptual processing, programming, and execution (Schrijvers, Hulstijn, & Sabbe, 2008) has been used as a predictor of poorer treatment response in major depressive disorder (MDD) (Caligiuri et al, 2003). Furthermore, psychomotor slowing has been documented across tasks measuring cognitive and motor aspects of performance in MDD (Schrijvers et al, 2008); however, age has rarely been considered (Caligiuri et al, 2003; Pier, Hulstijn, & Sabbe, 2004a, 2004b; Tucha et al, 2002). Revisiting the role of psychomotor speed in unmedicated younger and older adults with MDD may help determine how age impacts slowing prior to the initiation of anti-depressant medication for more accurate predictive models of treatment response.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Clock Drawing: Differentiating “Thinking”versus“Doing” in Younger and Older Adults with Depression

Cohen

Penney

Davis³

et al. 2014

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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Objective Psychomotor slowing has been documented in depression. The digital Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) provides: i) a novel technique to assess both cognitive and motor aspects of psychomotor speed within the same task and ii) the potential to uncover subtleties of behavior not previously detected with non-digitized modes of data collection. Method Using digitized pen technology in 106 participants grouped by Age (younger/older) and Affect (euthymic/unmedicated depressed), we recorded cognitive and motor output by capturing how the clock is drawn rather than focusing on the final product. We divided time to completion (TTC) for Command and Copy conditions of the dCDT into metrics of percent of drawing (%Ink) versus non-drawing (%Think) time. We also obtained composite z-scores of cognition, including attention/ information processing (AIP), to explore associations of %Ink and %Think times to cognitive and motor performance. Results Despite equivalent TTC, %Ink and %Think Command times (Copy n.s.) were significant (AgeXAffect interaction:p=.03)—younger depressed spent a smaller proportion of time drawing relative to thinking compared to the older depressed group. Command %Think time negatively correlated with AIP in the older depressed group (r=−.46;p=.02). Copy %Think time negatively correlated with AIP in the younger depressed (r=−.47;p=.03) and older euthymic groups (r=−.51;p=.01). Conclusion The dCDT differentiated aspects of psychomotor slowing in depression regardless of age, while dCDT/cognitive associates for younger adults with depression mimicked patterns of older euthymics.

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“…In the literature, researchers have discussed various kinematic parameters (e.g., maximum velocities and accelerations) to describe the execution of handwriting movements of healthy children and adults (Van Galen, Portier, Smits-Engelsmen, & Schomaker, 1993) as well as of children and adults with a variety of disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or major depression (Tucha & Lange, 2001; Tucha et al, 2002). The parameter “number of inversions in the velocity profile” of a movement (NIV) has been shown to be of particular importance in the assessment of highly skilled motor activities (Tucha, Tucha, & Lange, 2008).…”

Section: Graphonomics Measures and Individual Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Handwriting Development in Spanish Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Graphonomic Approach

Barrientos

2016

J Learn Disabil

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The central purpose of this study was to analyze the dynamics of handwriting movements in real time for Spanish students in early grades with and without learning disabilities. The sample consisted of 120 children from Grades 1 through 3 (primary education), classified into two groups: with learning disabilities and without learning disabilities. The Early Grade Writing Assessment tasks selected for this purpose were writing the alphabet in order from memory, alphabet copying in cursive and manuscript, and allograph selection. The dynamics of these four handwriting tasks were recorded using graphonomic tablets (type Wacom Intuos-4), Intuos Inking pens, and Eye and Pen 2 software. Several events were recorded across four different tasks: velocity, pressure, time invested in pauses, and automaticity. The results demonstrated significant graphonomic variations between groups across grades, depending on the type of task.

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The impact of tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors on handwriting movements of patients with depression

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Little Evidence for the Graphical Markers of Depression

Little Evidence for the Graphical Markers of Depression

Digital Clock Drawing: Differentiating “Thinking”versus“Doing” in Younger and Older Adults with Depression

Handwriting Development in Spanish Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Graphonomic Approach

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