Starting Monday June 30 we will meet by zoom at 7pm Mountain time to read and discuss the scientific literature on Parkinson's disease and its treatment.
Schedule. Please click on the links to see the weekly reading and peruse it prior to our zoom meeting.
Monday, June 30, 8pm MT, Parkinson's 101. We will discuss Chapter One of the outstanding book Ending Parkinson's Disease. For the early spectacular success of L-dopa please watch this video clip.
Recorded Zoom Session passcode 1Zpu43X. (that final period is indeed part of the passcode)
Monday, July 7, 7pm MT, Glove Science. We will discuss the paper Coordinated Reset Vibrotactile Stimulation Induces Sustained Cumulative Benefits in Parkinson’s Disease by the Tass Lab at Stanford. This paper demonstrates that their vibrotactile glove reduces the MDS-UPDRS III score. This means part III of the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale - which starts on page 17 of this document.
Recorded Zoom Session passcode +sb?Y4BJ
Monday July 14, 7pm MT, EGlove. Joint with Kanwar Bhutani. A guided tour of our glove design, construction, and apps along with Kanwar's long term experience with the Tass glove. Please watch this Today Show coverage to learn more about Kanwar and the glove. You can contact Kanwar at kanwarbhutani@gmail.com
Recorded Zoom Session passcode y@cdN25@
Monday July 21, 7pm MT, Freezing of Gait. We will discuss the paper Techniques for the detection and management of freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease – A systematic review and future perspectives. Some of these ideas have been brought to market, like this NexStride Walking Assist Device. Can we combine our apps so that your Gait score helps tune your glove parameters? The Gait Score (or Freezing Index) is typically computed by detecting abnormal rhythms via the Fourier Transform - as in their Reference [32].
Recorded Zoom Session passcode 1y=GuuEQ
Monday August 4, 7pm MT, What do your muscles say? We will discuss the paper Parkinsonian Bradykinesia Is Due to Depression in the Rate of Rise of Muscle Activity. Can we build and add an EMG sensor and design and conduct experiments that can be done at home? Here is how to build an inexpensive wearable EMG. Development of a Consumer Friendly Surface Electromyography System
Recorded Zoom Session passcode ASnv2Qj$
Monday August 11, 7pm MT. What does your voice tell us? We will discuss the paper Accurate telemonitoring of Parkinson's disease progression by non-invasive speech tests. For some background on scoring Parkinson's and the people and ideas behind the Intel device used in the paper above I recommend this short post.
Recorded Zoom Session passcode jW+Xk4mL
Monday August 25, 7pm MT. We share experiences and (re)design ideas with various glove models.
Recorded Zoom Session passcode X%Fp5a+x
Monday September 8, 7pm MT. In previous sessions we have explored technological means of evaluating the severity of Parkinson's symptoms. This week will be a shift to psychological factors, as we discuss The Embodied Self in Parkinson's Disease: Feasibility of a Single Tango Intervention for Assessing Changes in Psychological Health Outcomes and Aesthetic Experience. For a more comprehensive treatment I will also refer to Benefits of Tango Therapy in Alleviating the Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease Patient. For more background on Embodiment I recommend the amazing film Being in the World and the powerful books The Primacy of Caring: Stress and Coping in Health and Illness and Embodied: The Psychology of Physical Sensation.
Recorded Zoom Session passcode ^u6UE?v0
Monday September 22, 7pm MT. In order to better understand Parkinson's Disease, and claims made for various treatments, we need a deeper understanding of neuro-anatomy (where are the pieces and what are they called) and neuro-physiology (how do these pieces function individually and together). Toward that end I invite you to join me in an exploration of the Brain Networks Mediating Touch and Movement.
Recorded Zoom Session passcode 2&b1SqkU
Monday October 7, 7pm MT. We will continue our exploration of the Brain Networks Mediating Touch and Movement.
Recorded Zoom Session passcode dL9B=.jX
Monday October 21, 7pm MT. We will continue our exploration of the Brain Networks Mediating Touch and Movement.