Brain Function in Performance of Motor Tasks

Completed

Conditions studied: Brain Connectivity

In brief

This study will examine how the areas in the brain are connected when they are controlling two finger movements at the same time. It will look at how people use what they see to help guide two different movements. This ability, which is important in everyday life, can be a problem for patients with neurological problems. Healthy right-handed volunteers 18 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history, physical examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. The MRI scanner is a metal cylinder surrounded by a strong magnetic field. The subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the scanner, wearing earplugs to muffle loud noises that occur during the scanning. Participants undergo functional MRI (fMRI). This is a standard MRI that is done while the subject performs skilled finger tasks in response to instructions they see on a screen. Researchers localize brain areas which show activity changes while the tasks are performed. Before the test session begins, subjects complete a questionnaire and have an opportunity to practice the task. Subjects control the position of one or two cursors on a screen using one or two fingers. They perform tracking or pointing tasks according to what they see on the screen. During the single-task experiment only one task is presented on the screen. During the dual-task experiment, two tasks are presented on the screen. Subjects perform either the single-task or dual-task experiment, but not both. The fMRI lasts about 90 minutes, with subjects asked to lie still during the scan for up to 9 minutes at a time. After completing the fMRI, subjects are scheduled for a research electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalogram (MEG). The test is done while the subject performs tasks so that researchers can learn about the timing of changes in activity in certain brain regions during performance of the same tasks done for the fMRI.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00498329

Run by

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

People needed

144

Starts

2007-07-03

Expected to finish

2011-11-18

Last updated by the study team

2017-07-02

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 60. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may not qualify if…

• Exclusion Criteria for Healthy Volunteers
• Subjects with any abnormal findings on the neurological exam,
• Subjects who are pregnant (as determined by positive urine pregnancy test) which prevents them having an MRI
• Subjects with any finding on the MRI safety questionnaire which prevents them from safely undergoing an MRI scan
• Subjects with metallic dental fillings which are likely to cause MRI artifacts
• Subjects with any history of brain tumor, stroke, head trauma or a vascular malformation as obtained by history or from imaging studies
• Subjects with any history of a severe medical condition, such as cardiovascular disease, which would prevent them from lying flat for up to 120 minutes
• Subjects without the capacity to give informed consent
• Subjects with claustrophobia or other restrictions which prevent them from undergoing a scan in a confined space for up to 90 minutes
• Exclusion Criteria for PD Patients
• Patients with any abnormal findings on the neurological exam, with the exception of neurological findings consistent with Parkinson disease.
• any active psychiatric disease
• concurrent use of tricyclic antidepressants, neuroleptic agents, or any other licit or illicit drugs other than anti-parkinsonian agents that could lower the seizure threshold except for SSRI
• history of pallidotomy
• presence of implanted electrodes and generator for deep brain stimulation
• the study would cause undue risk or stress for reasons such as excessive fatigue, general frailty, or excessive apprehensiveness.
• dementia as assessed by the Folstein's Mini Mental Test Examination (MMSE < 24/30) or mentally impaired patients having no capacity to provide their own consent (the physician establishing the diagnosis and applying UPDRS will evaluate patient's mental capacity using conventional clinical interview)
• Patients who are pregnant (as determined by positive urine pregnancy test) which prevents them having an MRI
• Patients with any finding on the MRI safety questionnaire which prevents them from safely undergoing an MRI scan
• Patients with metallic dental fillings which are likely to cause MRI artifacts
• Patients with surgically or traumatically implanted foreign bodies such as a pacemaker, implanted medical pump, implanted hearing aids, metal plate in the skull, or metal implant in the skull or eyes (other than dental appliances or fillings) that may pose a physical hazard during MRI.
• Patients with any history of brain tumor, stroke, seizures, head trauma or a vascular malformation as obtained by history or from imaging studies.
• Patients with a history of seizures and/or epilepsy
• Patients with any history of a severe medical condition other than PD, such as cardiovascular disease, which would prevent them from lying flat for up to 120 minutes
• Patients without the capacity to give informed consent

Where it is running

• National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike — Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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