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Attention and Eye Movement in Parkinson's Disease

Investigating the Role of Attention in Perceptual and Cognitive Consequences of Parkinson's Disease

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
19 Years to 90 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study looks at how deep brain stimulation (DBS), which uses electrical signals in the brain, affects attention, eye movements, and reading emotions on faces. It includes people with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor (shaking), or dystonia (muscles tightening without control), and healthy people for comparison. Researchers will track eye movements and test how people rate faces before, during, and after starting DBS.

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).

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • All participants must be 19 to 90 years old.
  • All must be able and willing to sign a form agreeing to join the study.
  • All must be able to give answers using a button or a mouse-controlled slider.
  • For the first DBS part: have Parkinson’s disease with no known cause, essential tremor, or dystonia.
  • For the first DBS part: be scheduled for a new DBS device aimed at one of three brain areas called STN, VIM, or GPi.
  • Healthy comparison participants are chosen to match the ages of people in the Parkinson’s group.
  • For the surgery part: have one of the three movement disorders and be scheduled for awake DBS surgery with tiny wires recording brain activity. Be willing and able to do study tasks during surgery.
  • For the part after DBS starts: have one of the three movement disorders and be willing and able to handle brief changes in DBS settings.

Who can't join

  • For any part: cannot see faces clearly enough even with glasses or other vision correction.
  • For any part: cannot understand the instructions or finish the tasks.
  • For the first DBS part: movement symptoms are not controlled well enough to use a button or mouse.
  • For healthy comparison participants: a history of a disease that damages brain or nerve cells over time.
  • For the surgery part: not having DBS surgery while awake.
  • For the surgery part: cannot see faces clearly enough without vision correction.
  • For the part after DBS starts: DBS does not improve movement symptoms.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria * All Participants (Aim 1): * Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study * Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider * Age 19 - 90 years * DBS Participants (Aim 1): * Diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) or dystonia (DT). * Scheduled for new implantation of a therapeutic DBS device targeted to subthalamic nucleus (STN), ventral intermediate nucleus of thalamus (VIM) or internal globus pallidus (GPi) * Comparison Participants (Aim 1): o Selection by age matching to participants in PD group * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 2): * Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study * Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider * Age 19 - 90 years * Scheduled for awake DBS implantation with clinical micro-electrode recordings (MER) * Willing and able to engage in tasks during an awake surgical procedure * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 3): * Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study * Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider * Age 19 - 90 years * Willing to undergo acute manipulations of DBS * Able to tolerate acute changes of DBS Exclusion Criteria * All Participants (Aim 1): * Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements * DBS Participants (Aim 1): o Insufficient therapeutic control of motor symptoms to engage in tasks requiring button press or use of a mouse to control a slider * Healthy Comparison Participants (Aim 1): o History of neurodegenerative disorder * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 2): * Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements * Not undergoing awake DBS implantation * Uncorrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 3): * Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements * Failure of DBS to achieve a therapeutic effect on motor symptoms

Study sites (1)

NE