Dynamic Handwriting Analysis for the Assessment of Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Pattern Recognition Perspective

Neurodegenerative diseases, for instance Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), affect the peripheral nervous system, where nerve cells send messages that control muscles in order to allow movements. Sick neurons cannot control muscles properly. Handwriting involves cognitive planning, coordination, and execution abilities. Significant changes in handwriting performance are a prominent feature of AD and PD. This paper addresses the most relevant results obtained in the field of online (dynamic) analysis of handwritten trials by AD and PD patients. The survey is made from a pattern recognition point of view, so that different phases are described. Data acquisition deals not only with the device, but also with the handwriting task. Feature extraction can deal with function and parameter features. The classification problem is also discussed along with results already obtained. This paper also highlights the most profitable research directions.