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Parkinson's disease affects approximately 1% of us at any one time and is currently incurable. However, novel approaches are helping to improve the symptoms of those with the disease. Tonight, art and technology combine to provide new avenues to help treat Parkinson's.
Dancing in the lab: How can dance benefit people with Parkinson’s?
Dr Jude Bek
(Research Associate at Division of Neuroscience & Experimental Psychology )
Dance can improve movement, mood and well-being in people with Parkinson’s. However, dance is often not seen as a form of ‘therapy’, but is something people do for fun and to escape their condition and the difficulties of everyday life. The uniqueness of dance as an enjoyable yet beneficial activity holds great promise for improving quality of life in Parkinson’s. We are exploring some of the mechanisms involved in dance, including the activation of ‘mirror neurons’ that influence movement and communication. We are also exploring how simply watching dance may offer positive effects.
Using digital detectives to monitor Parkinson's
Parkinson's is a disease with no cure and a wide variety of symptoms. Just like a sneaky villain in a mystery novel, these symptoms can change within hours or days. When villains attack, it is almost impossible for police to protect every single citizen, when symptoms appear, it is almost impossible for health professionals to assess every patient more than every 6 months. Joins us tonight to learn what's behind our efforts to bring digital and analogue heroes to life to work in favour of people with Parkinson's disease, just as Sherlock and Watson would do.
