Multisensory Integration in Aging and Parkinson's disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring Multisensory integration, activities of daily living and mental health in Parkinson’s disease
IRAS ID
198146
Contact name
Clive Ballard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Arts & Science Research Office, Kings College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 2 days
Research summary
In healthy younger individuals there is evidence that receiving sensory information from more than one sense at the same time (e.g. hearing and seeing something), sometimes called multi-sensory integration, may actually improve attention compared to receiving information from one sense alone. This is important as an individual usually experience their environment on a daily basis in a multisensory form.
There is however evidence that in younger adults with schizophrenia this process is impaired, and multiple sensory inputs has a negative impact on attention. It has also been suggested that people with Parkinson’s disease may have particular difficulty processing information from two or more senses at the same time, which may be a particular problem for these individuals who have impairments in attention as part of their condition.
The aim of this study is to examine the impact of auditory and visual stimuli and the combination of the two on attention in people with Parkinson’s disease and to further explore the relationship between impaired multi-sensory integration and both mental health status and everyday functioning in these individuals.
The first question is to find out whether multi-sensory integration is impaired in people with Parkinson’s disease compared to healthy older individuals. The second question is to find out whether there is a relationship between everyday functioning and Multi-sensory integration in people with Parkinson’s disease. The question is to find out whether there is a relationship between impairment in multi-sensory integration and psychotic symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease.
To answer these questions, a total of 32 participants will be included in the study. Each participant will complete a computerised task to assess multisensory functioning and paper-pen assessments to assess every day function (including the activities of daily living (ADL) and psychiatric symptoms (brief psychiatric rating scale - BPRS) and neuropsychological assessments to measure any overall impairments in attention, memory and other aspects of cognitive functioning.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0904
Date of REC Opinion
8 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion