"Met angst en beven …" [In Dutch]

Movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease, are historically considered neurological disorders. For a long time, diagnosis and treatment of such disorders was entirely focused at motor symptoms. Research in the last few decades has shown that non-motor symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, apathy, hallucinations and cognitive decline, are not only very common in movement disorders, but also interact with motor symptom severity and are an important determinant of  the quality of life of patients. That makes Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders neuropsychiatric rather than neurological disorders, that require a multimodal  approach and a multidisciplinary treatment team.

In my inaugural lecture I will stress the importance of adequate assessment and treatment of psychopathology in patients with movement disorders. I will expand on the complexity of the interaction between psychiatric and neurological symptoms and discuss new ways of unraveling the nature of this complex relation, e.g. by using frequent ecological momentary assessments and by applying machine learning techniques to analyse research data.  Studying the interrelation between motor and non-motor symptoms in movement disorders will not only enhance our knowledge of these disorders, but will also increase our understanding of the fascinating way our brain works.

Click here for the research paper.

Click here for the live stream.