Parkinson’s disease is often known for its movement symptoms, such as slowness and tremor, but many people also experience changes in mood and emotions that can strongly affect daily life.
Depression, apathy, and anxiety are very common and can affect up to about 40% of people with Parkinson’s disease. These changes can influence social interaction, relationships, and overall well-being.
Importantly, these emotional symptoms are not just a reaction to movement problems. We now know that they are likely linked to changes in the same brain networks involved in Parkinson’s disease. However, we still do not fully understand how these brain changes lead to emotional difficulties.
The goal of our research is to understand how the brain supports emotion regulation in people with Parkinson’s disease. We study how different parts of the brain work together during emotional tasks. Participants take part in tasks that measure emotional responses while brain activity is recorded. We combine recordings from implanted deep brain stimulation electrodes with measurements taken from the scalp and eye-movement tracking, which do not involve surgery. Recordings are collected under different conditions, such as on and off medication and with stimulation on or off, to understand how treatments influence emotional brain function.
A key feature of this work is that it goes beyond standard clinic testing. In addition to clinic visits, we use virtual-reality-based tasks and at-home recordings to study emotions in situations that more closely reflect everyday life. By combining information from different settings and treatment states, this project aims to identify brain signals linked to emotional changes in Parkinson’s disease. Ultimately, this work seeks to improve understanding of depression, apathy, and anxiety and to support the development of better treatments that address both emotional and movement-related symptoms.