Emilie N Birkebæk Poulsen

• Presentation

I am a psychologist and PhD fellow, working at the Danish Dementia Research Centre and Neurogenetics Clinic at Rigshospitalet/Copenhagen University Hospital.

The purpose of my PhD project is to investigate cognitive deficits and behavioural changes in Huntington’s disease (HD) gene-mutation carriers. HD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which is characterized by a combination of motor, cognitive and psychiatric impairments. It is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, with the risk of inheritance being 50% if one parent has the disorder. Despite the motor disturbances being the most visible signs of HD, the non-motor symptoms are often identified as the most debilitating by patients and their families.

The purpose of this specific project is to examine some of the under researched aspects of neuropsychological symptoms in the disorder.

These results can hopefully contribute to the identification of cognitive markers of disease onset and progression and provide insight into HD’s illness trajectory and impact on the individual gene-mutation carriers.