Anouk van der Heide

During my studies in Biomedical Sciences, I quickly became fascinated by the human brain. My goal has always been to help people with neurological disorders. I have been working at the Donders Institute since 2018, where I study the impact of psychological stress on Parkinson’s Disease. I want to understand why some Parkinson’s patients develop mental disorders while others don’t. I hope that we can reduce the severity of Parkinson’s symptoms by acting on the stress system, either pharmacologically or with behavioral strategies like mindfulness. Personally, I experience mindfulness in playing several musical instruments and singing.