Review of Motor Control and Motor Learning

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that primarily affects older individuals and their ability to engage in daily occupations. Occupational therapists are actively involved in the training and retraining of functional motor skills with this population. Motor control theories may assist clinicians in understanding the movement difficulties that these individuals experience. Motor learning principles may be implemented to facilitate the learning of adaptive skills and/or previous motor tasks. Both motor control and motor learning research findings may influence occupational therapy treatment approaches for the rehabilitation of this population. The purpose of this paper is to review the current knowledge in the areas of motor control and motor learning, discuss this knowledge as it applies to Parkinson's disease, and integrate this information into occupational therapy treatment.