Analyzing the dynamics of hand tremor time series

Biol Cybern. 1992;66(6):479-84. doi: 10.1007/BF00204112.

Abstract

We investigate physiological, essential and parkinsonian hand tremor measured by the acceleration of the stretched hand. Methods from the theory of dynamical systems and from stochastics are used. It turns out that the physiological tremor can be described as a linear stochastic process, and that the parkinsonian tremor is nonlinear and deterministic, even chaotic. The essential tremor adopts a middle position, it is nonlinear and stochastic.

MeSH terms

  • Hand / physiopathology*
  • Humans
  • Parkinson Disease / physiopathology*
  • Stochastic Processes
  • Tremor / physiopathology*