Staff Profile

I completed my PhD in Psychology at the University of Nottingham in 2018. In 2019 I moved to Newcastle to start as a postdoctoral research associate with the Brain and Movement (BAM) research Group at the Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University. I am a Cognitive Neuroscientist specialising in Human Motor Movement Sciences using neuroimaging and movement analyses. My primary research interest are in the understanding of neural control of the human motor system and  how this is altered in movement disorders. My goal is ultimately to identify techniques to understand disease pathology and facilitate targeted therapies.

Links: Google scholar | Twitter | ResearchGate | Publons 

I joined the Brain and Movement group in March 2019 working with Prof. Lynn Rochester. My work involves developing novel stepped protocols to dynamically track changes in FDG metabolism to differentiate gait related brain activity from postural control using Positron Emission Tomography [PET]/MRI. Furthermore, I will attempt to investigate the interaction of FDG-PET activation with structural and functional connectivity networks to ascertain mechanisms underpinning any age or disease related changes. At present I am investigating a novel neuromodulation tool that stimulates the cholinergic vagus nerve to improve gait and cognitive function in people with Parkinson's.

• Articles

  • Sigurdsson HP, Hunter H, Alcock L, Wilson R, Pienaar I, Want E, Baker MR, Taylor J-P, Rochester L, Yarnall AJ. Safety and tolerability of adjunct non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation in people with parkinson's: a study protocol. BMC Neurology 2023, 23(1), 58.
  • Sigurdsson HP, Yarnall AJ, Galna B, Lord S, Alcock L, Lawson RA, Colloby SJ, Firbank MJ, Taylor JP, Pavese N, Brooks DJ, O'Brien JT, Burn DJ, Rochester L. Gait-related metabolic covariance networks at rest in Parkinson’s disease. Movement Disorders 2022, Epub ahead of print.
  • Ray NH, Lawson RA, Martin SL, Sigurdsson HP, Wilson J, Galna B, Lord S, Alcock L, Duncan GW, Khoo TK, O'Brien JT, Burn DJ, Taylor JP, Rea R, Bergamino M, Rochester L, Yarnall AJ. Free-water imaging of the cholinergic basal forebrain and pedunculopontine nucleus in Parkinson’s disease. Brain 2022, 146(3), 1053–1064.
  • Sigurdsson HP, Pépés SE, Jackson GM, Draper A, Morgan PS, Jackson SR. Alterations in the microstructure of white matter in children and adolescents with Tourette syndrome measured using tract-based spatial statistics and probabilistic tractography. Cortex 2018, 104, 75-89.
  • Chen C, Sigurdsson HP, Pépés SE, Auer DP, Morris PG, Morgan PS, Gowland PA, Jackson SR. Activation induced changes in GABA: functional MRS at 7 T with MEGA-sLASER. NeuroImage 2017, 156, 207-213.
  • Sigurdsson HP, Hefner G, Ben-Omar N, Köstlbacher A, Wenzel-Seifert K, Hiemke C, Haen E. Steady-state serum concentrations of venlafaxine in patients with late-life depression. Impact of age, sex and BMI. Journal of Neural Transmission 2015, 122(5), 721-729.

• Review

  • Sigurdsson HP, Raw R, Hunter H, Baker MR, Taylor J-P, Rochester L, Yarnall AJ. Noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: current status and future prospects. Expert Review of Medical Devices 2021, Epub ahead of print.