Parkinson Patients Social Boycott

By Staff

Monday, February 22, 2010, 10:15

Parkinson's disease creates a social barrier for patients because negative perceptions of their , suggests a new Canadian study.

Marc Pell at McGill's School of Communication Sciences and Disorders found that, common people have negative perceptions for individuals with Parkinson"s disease just because they could not communicate efficiently. This limits their social interaction and mobility, reducing their quality of life.

The research underwent recording aging adults both with and without Parkinson's. Their voices were then played to people without revealing which voice is of the Parkinson Patient and which wasn't. It was found that people found the speech of Parkinson Patient less influential, less happy and less friendly than aging speakers without the disease. Negative impressions of their personality were especially related to changes in the speaking voices caused by the disease, not the ability to describe the scenes.

The study was carried out in collaboration with Abhishek Jaywant, a research trainee in McGill's Neuropragmatics and Emotion Lab.

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