New Hope for Parkinson's Patients

May 2025

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a complex disorder. Although it is best known for motor symptoms, such as tremors, muscle stiffness, slowness and walking difficulties, there are many other issues that can be troublesome, including depression, sleep disorders, memory loss and speech problems. People who have PD can present with varied combinations of these features and with different levels of severity.

The interventions needed for comprehensive care are wide-ranging, and the number of specialists involved often necessitates a daunting schedule of appointments for patients and caregivers to navigate.

Dr. Thomas Wichmann, Deputy Director at the Emory NPRC, is also Associate Director, Movement Disorder Division at Emory University and a member of the Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery Team at Emory Healthcare. His research focuses on developing more effective and safer interventions to help those who have PD and other movement disorders. He studies brain activity changes associated with PD as well as the effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on brain networks. The National Institutes of Health and national foundations have continuously funded his research since 1996.

Dr. Wichmann is featured in New Hope for Parkinson's patients, one of the videos in the Emory Health Proud series. Watch it here!