Verena Dzialas, Germany

University of Cologne Nuclear Medicine/ Building 60

Personal data Name: Verena Dzialas Date of birth: July 15th 1995, Cologne Address: University of Cologne Nuclear medicine Kerpener Str. 62 / Building 60 50937 Cologne Position: PhD student (first year) Higher Education: 2020 3 year fellowship in the research training group for neuronal network analysis (RTG1960-NCA) at the University of Cologne in the Department of Nuclear Medicine Topic: Super aging vs Alzheimer's Disease - The two extremes of healthy and unhealthy aging (supervisor: Prof. Alexander Drzezga, Prof. Brunhilde Wirth) 2018-2020 University of Cologne, M.Sc Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience Thesis: Motor reserve in Parkinson's Disease (supervisor: Prof. Thilo van Eimeren) 2014-2018 University of Cologne, B.Sc Biochemistry Thesis: Absolute protein quantification of single muscle fiber proteome with the Universal Protein Standard (supervisor: Prof. Marcus Krüger) Professional Experience JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS 1. Mr. Sebastian Kallabis, Ms. Lena Maria Abraham, Dr. Stefan Müller, Ms. Verena Dzialas, Ms. Clara Türk, Ms. Janica Lea Wiederstein, Ms. Theresa Bock, Dr. Hendrik Nolte, Prof. Thomas Braun, Corresponding Author Prof. Marcus Krüger., Proteomics for fiber typing (ProFiT) unravels fiber-specific changes in myostatin-deficient mice. Skeletal Muscle (2020) https://skeletalmusclejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13395-020-00226-5 CONFERENCE CONTRIBUTIONS 1. Verena Dzialas, Merle C. Hoenig, Gérard N. Bischof, Alexander Drzezga, Thilo van Eimeren, Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative. Motor reserve moderates the detrimental effect of dopamine transporter loss on motor function in Parkinson’s disease. November 2019. “2nd International Conference on Cognitive Reserve in Dementia and other Disorders”. Munich, Germany. [oral presentation] https://www.resdem2019.com/dementia/programme.html (16.10-17.20: Session 3 – Free communication session) 2. Verena Dzialas, Merle C. Hoenig, Gérard N. Bischof, Alexander Drzezga, Thilo van Eimeren, Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative. Motor reserve ameliorates the detrimental effect of dopamine transporter loss on motor function in Parkinson’s disease. March 2020. “9th European Conference on Clinical Neuroimaging”. Paris, France. [oral presentation] https://www.euroccn.com/attachment/1844147/ (5.15-5.25: Monday Afternoon session)

Presenter of 2 Presentations

Conference Calendar

MOTOR RESERVE AS A MODIFIER OF LONG-TERM PROGNOSIS IN PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Session Name

NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS, IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND MOTOR RESERVE

Session Type

SYMPOSIUM

Date

14.03.2021, Sunday

Session Time

08:00 - 10:00

Room

On Demand Symposia A

Lecture Time

09:45 - 10:00

Presenter

Verena Dzialas, Germany

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Abstract

Abstract

Aims

In Alzheimer’s disease, higher cognitive reserve has been linked to a more rapid cognitive decline from the point of diagnosis. Whether similar trajectories exist concerning motor reserve (MR) in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear. Here, we investigated the longitudinal decline in motor function by considering different levels of MR.

Methods

Data of 151 PD patients (M_age=58.7±4.5) were included, for whom a baseline DaT-SPECT and longitudinal clinical information were available at the PPMI database. Based on the residuals derived from the association between DaT signal loss and UPDRS-III score, we defined a group of high (n=50, M_{years_follow-up}=6.2) and low (n=45, M_{years_follow-up}=5.4) MR. To assess the trajectories of motor decline, we performed linear mixed-effects models with SPSS26 (p<.05), comparing the decline of high and low MR group over time. The model comprised an interaction term between time and reserve groups additionally to several covariates as fixed plus subjects and time as random effects, allowing individually varying slopes and intercepts. The model was corrected by an unstructured covariance matrix.

Results

At baseline, high MR was associated with significantly lower UPDRS-III scores compared to low MR. While this difference remained over 7 years (p=.029), no difference in group-average decline rate (p=.252) was observed. However, a positive covariance (cov_{Intercept-Slope}= .082, p=.018) between intercept and slope was found indicating that individual motor decline depends on baseline symptom severity.

Conclusions

Higher initial MR may be associated with slower disease progression and generally less severe symptoms over time, which has major implications for disease prognosis and the development of interventional strategies.

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