There is growing evidence that emotions, stress, and some neurological disorders are intertwined. Dr Blakemore will talk about her current research which focusses on understanding how acute stress can alter normal motor control and exacerbate movement dysfunction in movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Understanding the impact of acute stress on movement control may inform development of emotion-movement interventions to improve motor function in people with PD.

ABOUT DR REBEKAH BLAKEMORE

Dr Rebekah Blakemore is a lecturer and researcher in movement neuroscience based in the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Otago. She completed her PhD in Otago, and afterwards spent three years as a Marie-Curie Bridge Postdoctoral Fellow in an emotion and neuroimaging laboratory at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Dr Blakemore returned home to work as a Research Fellow at the New Zealand Brain Research Institute, Christchurch, and has been supported by the Neurological Foundation since then to investigate how emotions influence our movement.