The primary objective is to study human patients in order to elucidate the basic pathophysiological mechanisms underlying both motor and cognitive dysfunction in disease, thereby increasing our understanding of normal physiological processes. Such knowledge of basic pathophysiology also serves as a template to reformulate existing treatment modalities and to develop novel therapeutic strategies. These are put to the test in clinical trials. These aims are achieved through various approaches.
An integrated multidisciplinary approach will increasingly become the cornerstone of research line TC4. In this respect, an important goal for the nearby future is to strengthen the collaboration between the departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation of UMC St Radboud and SMK-Research with the Faculty of Human Movement Science of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Recent initiatives have been launched as a first step in this direction. With the recent appointment at the department of Neurology (UMC St Radboud) of M. Munneke, a physiotherapist and human movement scientist with a solid background in clinical epidemiology, increasing emphasis will be placed on integrating epidemiological and paramedical approaches towards neurodegenerative disorders. Finally, we aim to build upon and extend the existing collaborations with various national and international research groups.