PhD candidate 'Cerebral effects of psychological distress in Parkinson’s disease'

Updated: almost 2 years ago
Job Type: Temporary
Deadline: 01 Jul 2022

As a PhD candidate, you will be embedded in the research group of Dr. Rick Helmich at the Donders Institute and the department of Neurology at the Radboudumc. You will also interact with Prof. Anne Speckens at the department of Psychiatry and the Centre for Mindfulness at the Radboudumc. We offer the exciting opportunity to work in a highly multidisciplinary field consisting of neurology, psychiatry, and neuroscience, at the world-class Donders institute. Will you join our team?

As a PhD candidate, you will study the cerebral mechanisms of psychological distress in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The key aim of this project is to understand if a mindfulness-based intervention reduces neuropsychiatric clinical symptoms in PD (anxiety and depression). Furthermore, you will investigate how this intervention influences cerebral (MRI) and clinical indices of disease progression in PD.

To investigate this, you will perform a randomized controlled trial comparing a mindfulness-based intervention with an active control intervention in two groups of 68 PD patients. Before and after these interventions, you will perform state-of-the-art neuroimaging (structural and functional MRI), as well as clinical testing. Blood samples will also be taken by a study nurse in all patients.There will be two post-docs that are also involved in this project for the first 1-2 years, and a research assistant will assist you with some of the measurements.

PD is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder occurring in 7 million patients worldwide. PD is caused by progressive loss of nigro-striatal dopamine cells, which causes motor symptoms such as slowness of movement and tremor, and non-motor symptoms such as cognitive dysfunction. Converging clinical evidence indicates that PD patients are very sensitive to the effects of psychological stress. There is a high prevalence of stress-related neuropsychiatric symptoms in PD: 30-40% of patients experience depression and 25-30% have anxiety.

Furthermore, stress worsens many motor symptoms, e.g. tremor and freezing of gait. In addition to these immediate negative effects, chronic stress may also have detrimental long-term consequences, and specifically by accelerating disease progression, as suggested by animal models. However, evidence in humans is lacking. Emerging clinical evidence suggests that mindfulness-based interventions can reduce the impact of psychological distress in PD, but most studies are underpowered and the cerebral mechanisms remain unclear.

Tasks and responsibilities

  • Inclusion of PD patients (n=136) for participation in this study. Recruitment will take place at the Centre of Expertise for Parkinson and Movement Disorders at Radboudumc, and via a dedicated study website.
  • Data collection (clinical scores, questionnaires, MRI scans) at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging and Radboudumc, with help of a research assistant.
  • Data analysis, including structural MRI (e.g. voxel-based morphometry, neuromelanin-sensitive MRI) and functional MRI (effects of a stressor on resting state fMRI).
  • Coordination of the study, e.g. contact with the ethical review board, the involved mindfulness teachers and assessors, and the participants.
  • Writing scientific papers, and finish a PhD thesis, on the clinical and cerebral effects a mindfulness-based intervention in PD.
  • Interacting with other people in the group to distribute knowledge and learn from each other.


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