Applicable to professionals and researchers in the forensic document examination community and the legal community, this book provides a comprehensive review of important neuroscientific principles underlying normal and pathologic hand motor control and handwriting. The empirical data provides a strong basis for strengthening the foundations of forensic document examination. The book includes current results from the author’s laboratories on the effects of disease and medication on handwriting, a presently growing problem due to the aging population. The text covers the physiologic processes underlying handwriting and signature production and includes research on motor control, kinematics, and robotics.

NEUROANATOMY AND NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF HANDWRITING MOVEMENTS

Historical Perspective

Neuroanatomical Bases of Handwriting Movements

Neurochemical Bases on Motor Function

Motor Control

Models of Motor Control

Handwriting as a Motor Program

QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF HANDWRITING MOVEMENTS

Handwriting Kinematics

Empirical Research on Signature Verification

Movement Dynamics in Forged Signatures

Pen Pressure as a Discriminating Variable

DISEASE, DRUGS AND AGING

Neurologic Disorders and Handwriting

Psychotropic Medications and Handwriting

Substance Abuse and Handwriting

Normal and Pathological Aging and Effects on Handwriting

SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS IN FORENSIC DOCUMENT EXAMINATION