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Interests:
My research centres around Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and the use of EEG to facilitate early diagnosis and symptom detection. PD is a neurodegenerative disease which affects over 8,5 million people worldwide, with future estimates on the rise due to population aging. Devastatingly, it is not curable. However, early interventions can meaningfully delay disease progression and make symptoms more manageable.
Apathy is a symptom of PD which is characterized by loss of motivation and goal-directed behavior. It has been linked to increased mortality risk and a decline in quality of life, highlighting the importance of understanding its underlying mechanisms.
Research Themes:
A key focus of mine is mapping normative trajectories of resting-state EEG measures across the lifespan and examining how individual PD patients deviate from these norms based on factors such as age, sex, and cognitive profile. By leveraging large-scale datasets and computational modeling, my aim is to develop a scalable, cost-effective tool for detecting and tracking neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on PD, that can be used by researchers and clinicians worldwide.
In addition, my research explores the neural correlates of abnormal decision-making in PD, especially in patients with and without clinical apathy. Apathy, which impacts up to 40% of PD patients, often has a more profound effect on quality of life than motor symptoms. I investigate how EEG can define compensatory brain mechanisms, particularly within the thalamus-dorsal cingulate circuit, to understand how these mechanisms prevent demotivation in apathy. By identifying neurophysiological biomarkers, my goal is to contribute to the development of non-invasive neuromodulation strategies for preventing and managing non-motor symptoms in PD.
Collaborators:
I am thrilled to be collaborating with Dr Christopher Benwell, Dr Christian Keitel, Dr Tom Gilbertson, and Dr Douglas Steele from the University of Dundee on this project.