Micrographia (handwriting)

For artwork "drawn" with lines of minute characters, see micrography.

Example of writing by a patient with Parkinson's disease that is possibly showing micrographia in addition to other abnormal characteristics. Published by Jean-Martin Charcot in 1879. Text accompanying image stated "The strokes forming the letters are very irregular and sinuous, whilst the irregularities and sinuosities are of a very limited width. On a careful examination of this specimen of writing it will be perceived that the down-strokes are all, with the exception of the first letter, made with comparative firmness and are, in fact, nearly normal — the finer up-strokes, on the contrary, are all tremulous in appearance, and it is to the unsteadiness of these lines that the peculiar character of the writing here is principally due."

Micrographia is a medical term used to describe abnormally small, cramped handwriting and/or the progression to continually smaller handwriting. This is one of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. O’Sullivan and Schmitz describe it as an abnormally small handwriting that is difficult to read, as seen in the photo to the right .

Micrographia in Parkinson's Disease

A common feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) is to have difficulty in routine activities due to lack of overall control of movement . More specifically, patients have difficulty maintaining the scale of movements and have reduced amplitude of movement; also known as hypokinesia . These difficulties with scaling and controlling the amplitude of movement cause patients with PD to have difficulty with complex, sequential movements. This helps to explain why micrographia is a common sign and symptom of the disease.