Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology
Year : 2019, Volume : 13, Issue : 2
First page : ( 91) Last page : ( 96)
Print ISSN : 0973-9122. Online ISSN : 0973-9130.
Article DOI : 10.5958/0973-9130.2019.00092.6

To Study the Effect of Drugs on Neuro-Muscular Movement Leading to Variation in Handwriting

Barot Jinal¹, Ahuja Pooja^2,*

¹Student, M. Sc. Forensic Science Programme, Institute of Forensic Science, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University

²Assistant Professor, Institute of Forensic Science, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University

*Corresponding author: Pooja Ahuja, Assistant Professor, Institute of Forensic Science, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University

Online published on 7 May, 2019.

Abstract

The goal of the present study is to describe whether a simple handwriting measure can discriminate between individuals with drug addiction. Monitoring drug-induced side effects is especially important for patients who undergo treatment with antipsychotic medications, as these drugs often produce extra pyramidal side effects (EPS) resulting in movement abnormalities similar to Parkinsonism. For the experiment, we examined writings of 9 patients who were undergoing treatment at a rehabilitation centre. Participants were instructed to write a illustrated text when in normal condition as well as under drug induced condition. There were four important observations from this study: (1) Drug-induced patients exhibited impaired movement velocities and velocity scaling; (2) there was a positive correlation between the font size scaling for drug-induced condition and normal; (3) Participants displayed abnormalities in movement smoothness in the form of tremors in drug induced conditions; and (4) There was a positive correlation between pen movement and pictorial effect of the participant before and after drug induction.

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Keywords

Drug, EPS, Handwriting.

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