Attention Bias: Testing a Potential Marker for the Diagnosis of Psychogenic Movement Disorders

This study aims to provide pilot data on attentional-task performance of patients with psychogenic movement disorders compared to patients with neurologic movement disorders and healthy controls. The primary outcome measure is the between-group difference in mean measures of the modified Stroop task: 1) accuracy (error rate), 2) total task completion time, and 3) mean response reaction time. We predict that the poorest accuracy and longest task completion times and response reaction times will be found in the PMD group, followed by the neurologic movement disorders group, after controlling for disability, speed of movement, and level of education.