MASKED: Research to Detect Parkinson’s Disease
Recently, Webster Vienna Psychology Department head Marc Mehu kicked off a global research project.
The project, Motor Health and Semiotic Function in the Kinesthetic Expressivity of Neurodegenerative Disease — or MASKED — is being funded by the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. The project is a Marie Sklodowska Curie Action - Staff Exchange.
MASKED is a research consortium aimed at improving the diagnosis and prognosis of Parkinson's disease, and the research project’s planned assessment tool could be used to monitor the course of a treatment.
The research of Dr. Mehu and his partners is addressing a symptom of Parkinson’s disease known as hypomimia — a phenomenon known as facial masking or masked face — and the demand for early-indicating detection techniques. The researchers will train in measurement techniques, Facial Action Coding System and the Neuropsychological Gesture Coding System, and modern measurement technologies.