CFIN researcher Rasha Hyder will defend her PhD thesis, entitled "Neural foundations of automatic speech comprehension in Parkinson’s disease: neuromagnetic investigations".

15.09.2020 | Henriette Blæsild Vuust

Rasha Hyder

Title of thesis: “Neural foundations of automatic speech comprehension in Parkinson’s disease: neuromagnetic investigations”

Short abstract:

Although the motor symptoms are the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease (PD), patients can also manifest heterogeneous cognitive impairments including deterioration in executive functions as well as language deficits. While the current treatments of PD, dopaminergic medications and deep brain stimulation (DBS), are associated with remarkable alleviation of the motors deficits, their impact on cognitive functions, particularly language, is still controversial. In this PhD project we investigate the automatic stages of language comprehension in PD and how their neurolinguistic processes are affected in patients depending on treatment strategy, either dopaminergic medication or deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS).

The dissertation is based on three studies in which magnetoencephalography (MEG) in combination with language tasks are used. In the first study, a patient-friendly paradigm is proposed which can be used to assess language functions in an attention- and task-free manner. The paradigm developed here is then deployed in the subsequent studies with PD patients. The second study involves PD patients treated with dopaminergic medication to investigate how speech comprehension correlates with functional connectivity based on MEG source analyses. The final study is a multi-case study involving PD patients with STN-DBS, examining the influence of unilateral and bilateral STN-DBS on speech comprehension in PD. The dissertation presents the first work investigating language function in PD patients independently from attention and behavioral tasks. It is aimed at cognitive neuroscientists and clinical neurologists interested in brain networks subserving language comprehension or what they reveal about the cognitive status of patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Assessment committee:

1. Professor Sarang S. Dalal, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark.
2. Professor Vadim Nikulin, Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
3. Professor Roelien Bastiaanse, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Due to corona restrictions, the PhD defense will be performed with Zoom participation from the two opponents.

It is possible for others to participate in the defense via Zoom by using this link: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/66198556190

Rasha Hyder herself will be present in the Twin Auditorium, so physical participation is also possible.
The Twin Auditorium has room for 72 people - when respecting Aarhus University's Covid19 restrictions.

ALL ARE WELCOME - on zoom or in the Twin Auditorium.

For more information, please contact:

Hasha Hyder
rasha.hyder@cfin.au.dk