Newcastle University

SPiEs - Sensitivity of people with Parkinson's to different intensities of Emotions

 

Most people think of Parkinson’s Disease as a movement disorder, however there are other symptoms that are equally problematic for the patient. 

For example, we know that more than half of people with Parkinson’s have altered emotion recognition and that changes in the way they see can predict cognitive decline (e.g. problems with attention and memory).  We think that ability to recognise emotions from faces may be a predictor of disease progression. 

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We would like to find out:

• How easy it is for people with Parkinson’s to recognise different emotion expressions in faces (e.g. happiness, anger, disgust, fear, sadness and surprise)
• How cognitive impairment (e.g. problems with attention and memory) affects this ability to recognise faces

 

This study is organised by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University.  It is funded by the Newcastle NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Lewy Body Dementia. The study is run at the Clinical Ageing Research Unit (CARU) at Newcastle University.

 

CARU                                                                             Testing room