Effects of Excision of a Mass Lesion of the Precentral Region of the Left Hemisphere on Disturbances of Graphomotor Output

Oliver Tucha, Lara Tucha, Christian Smely, Klaus W. Lange

Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Regensburg, Re-gensburg, Germany.
Department of Neurosurgery, Lahr General Hospital, Lahr, Germany.

DOI: 10.4236/nm.2012.32023                

Abstract

In the present study, the effect of neurosurgery on graphomotor output of a right-handed female patient with a mass lesion of the precentral region of the left frontal lobe was reported. For examination of handwriting movements a digitizing tablet was used. Preoperatively, the patient showed longer movement times than healthy subjects and patients with lesions of the left frontal lobe without involvement of the precentral region. Furthermore, the analysis of kinematic data revealed a severe dysfluency of her handwriting. Postoperatively, a significant improvement of writing time and fluency of handwriting was observed. Since the integrity of handwriting plays an important role in everyday functioning, disturbances of handwriting movements should be objectified and reassessed in follow-up assessment using new techniques such as digitizing tablets.

Keywords

Brain Tumour; Neurosurgery; Handwriting; Kinematics; Motor Function

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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