PhD Studentship – Effect of Ageing and Parkinson’s disease on Neural Control of Gait

Vacancy Reference Number

Programme code 8300F

Closing Date

21 Jul 2017

Salary

UK/EU tuition fees paid and annual living expenses of £14,553

Address

Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University 

Duration

3 years

Overview

Interested in understanding how neural mechanisms relate to gait and cognitive changes in older adults and people with Parkinson’s disease (PD)? This project will investigate neural control of gait in these populations and assess links with cognition. 

Older adults frequently develop impaired gait, associated with an increased risk of falling and subsequent medical complications. Age related neurodegenerative diseases such as PD further impact gait. Cognitive changes often occur with ageing and are an important factor when considering falls risk. Gait and cognitive function are interrelated, possibly through shared neural pathways. Motor control will be studied using a variety of data including electromyography (EMG), gait spatio-temporal data and functional near-infrared data (fNIRS). Future studies will also record EEG during level and slope walking. The project will require strong numerical skills and proficiency in programming (Matlab). 

Sponsor 

Faculty of Medical Sciences (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/medicalsciences/), Newcastle University 
Lead supervisor – Dr A Pantall (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ion/staff/profile/annettepantall.html), Institute of Neuroscience 

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants will normally have or expect to achieve at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent in a subject related to the project such as biomedical engineering, bioscience, neuroscience and physics. A further qualification such as an MSc, MEng or MRes is advantageous. 

The award is available to UK/EU and International applicants. If English is not your first language, you must have a minimum English language level of IELTS score of 6.5 (or equivalent) with no less than 6 in sub-sections.

How to apply

You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application system (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/). To do this please ‘Create a new account’. 
 

Further Information

https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=87037&LID=1125