17 June 2004
New research on Parkinson's
A team of psychologists at the Universities of Dundee and Abertay are embarking on an exciting new
study to discover how Parkinson's disease affects the brain and people's language abilities.
Research until now has established that Parkinson's affects a person's movement, but now a team of
psychologists believe that speech and language are also affected by Parkinson's. If they prove this,
speech impairment could act as an early diagnosis for the disease.
Professor Trevor Harley, Tracey Oliver, a PhD student in psychology, and Lesley Jessiman, a research
fellow, all at the University of Dundee, and Dr Siobhan MacAndrew at the University of Abertay, plan to
match up the parts of the brain affected by Parkinson's with the parts that control language to see if
there is a correlation.
Over 30 local adults are volunteering to help with the project and are being interviewed by the
psychologists about their symptoms and how they cope with them. The volunteers then take language and
experimental tests to allow the psychologists to discover how Parkinson's disease affects language.
The team are the first group to receive money from the Parkinson's Disease society to investigate these
psychological aspects of Parkinson’s. The Society has given a grant of £60,000 for this research.
Tracey Oliver of the University of Dundee said: "Individuals with Parkinson's Disease can often adapt to
the problems with movement that the condition entails. However problems with language and communication
are often the most frustrating, but repeatedly the most ignored aspect of the condition. We are extremely
proud to be working with such an important charity to further research on Parkinson’s Disease."
There will be a Parkinson's awareness event on 24th June in Dundee. The team are keen to hear from
individuals with Parkinson's disease in the Tayside and Fife area who would be interested in taking part
as a volunteer . Further information can be obtained from Tracey Oliver on 01382 344683.
By Jenny Marra, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk | 
