Attention and Eye Movement in Parkinson's Disease

Part of paid clinical trials in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sponsor
University of Nebraska
Study ID
NCT06899022
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Dystonias
  • Essential Tremor
  • Parkinson's Disease (PD)

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
19 Years - 90 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Normal therapeutic DBS — OTHER
    Participants will receive deep brain stimulation delivered at the clinically determined therapeutic frequency and current over approximately 20 min.
  • Reduced current DBS — OTHER
    Participants will receive deep brain stimulation delivered at the clinically determined therapeutic frequency and reduced (50%) current over approximately 20 minutes.
  • Reduced frequency DBS — OTHER
    Participants will receive deep brain stimulation delivered at the clinically determined therapeutic current and reduced (4 Hz) frequency over approximately 20 min.

Study Details

The goal of this observational and interventional study is to understand how therapeutic deep brain stimulation (DBS) affects attention, perception and cognition in participants with Parkinson's disease (PD) and non-PD movement disorders, including essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT). The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does impaired control of attention and eye movement in PD alter how social cues are perceived and interpreted? * Does therapeutic DBS improve or worsen attentional and perceptual deficits for social cues in PD, ET and DT? * Can DBS be optimized to restore normal attentional control in PD while remaining an effective therapy for other aspects of the disorder. * What do parts of the brain targeted by DBS contribute to the control of attention? Using an eye tracking camera, investigators will study how participants with PD, ET and DT look at and perceive facial expressions of emotion before and after starting DBS therapy, in comparison to a group of healthy participants without ET, PD, DT or DBS. Participants with PD, ET and DT will see and rate morphed facial expressions on a computer screen in three conditions: * Before starting DBS therapy (over approximately 1 hour). * In the operating room, during the standard procedure to implant DBS electrodes, while the participant is awake (for no more than 15 minutes). * After starting DBS therapy, with brief experimental changes of DBS stimulation level and frequency (over approximately 1 hour).

Key Dates

Start date
Sep 22, 2025
Status verified
Mar 2026
Primary completion
Feb 29, 2028
Completion
Aug 31, 2028

Study Design

Enrollment
138 participants (estimated)
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

  • Experimental: Acute alteration of DBS
    All participants in the single arm of this study will undergo acute alteration of DBS stimulation under three conditions in randomized order over the course of 1 hour.

Primary Outcome Measure

Facial Expression Rating [ Time Frame: Baseline (within 2 weeks pre-DBS implantation), intraoperative (Day 0; day of DBS implantation surgery, and post-operative follow-up (2-3 weeks after DBS implantation, following clinical optimization of stimulation parameters). ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
University of Nebraska Medical CenterOmahaNebraska68198
Dulce V Maroni, PhD
[email protected]
402-836-9751
Christopher K Kovach, PhD (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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By research site
University of Nebraska Medical Center· Omaha, NE

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