A new study, looking at changes in perception of time, found that people living with Parkinson’s perceive the length of visual and auditory stimuli inaccurately compared to people who don’t have Parkinson’s.

The findings from this study could lead to biomarkers to help us identify people experiencing cognitive dysfunction due to Parkinson’s and help doctors monitor the effects of Parkinson’s treatments on cognitive symptoms.

The study used data collected from over 800 participants, many via the Canadian Open Parkinson Network (C-OPN). It is the first of its kind looking at perception of time in people with Parkinson’s.

Founded in 2020, C-OPN is a platform that allows Canadians living with Parkinson’s and related disorders to connect with scientists across Canada to participate in research studies and trials.

This is a large-scale, national research network consists of nine of Canada’s top universities and movement disorder research centres, whose collaboration will dramatically enhance our ability to understand and deliver personalized treatments and services that improve lives.
Over 100,000+ Canadians are living with Parkinson’s, and that number grows every day. While we still don’t understand the exact causes of Parkinson’s, pools of data such as this, supported by Canadians living with Parkinson’s will help researchers identify trends, expand our understanding of the disease, and, ultimately, find a cure for Parkinson’s.

Studies like this demonstrate the importance of data repositories. Parkinson Canada is thrilled to be a founding partner of C-OPN, fueling the only national Parkinson’s repository in Canada.

Study Information: Su ZH, Patel S, Bredemeyer O, FitzGerald JJ, Antoniades CA. Parkinson’s disease deficits in time perception to auditory as well as visual stimuli – A large online study. Front Neurosci. 2022;16:995438. Published 2022 Oct 20. doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.995438