Motor Network Physiology

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Parkinson Disease, Essential Tremor

In brief

The brain networks controlling movement are complex, involving multiple areas of the brain. Some neurological disorders, like Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET), cause abnormalities in these brain networks. Deep brain stimulation is a treatment that is used to treat these types of neurological diseases and is thought to help patients by modulating brain networks responsible for movement. Levodopa medication is also used to modulate this brain networks in patients with PD. The overall objective is to develop a unified theory of basal ganglia thalamocortical (BGTC) circuit dynamics that accounts for disease symptomatology, movement, and their inter-relationship. The underlying hypothesis, is that the rigidity and bradykinesia of PD are fundamentally related to excessive functional coupling across nodes in the BGTC motor circuit impeding effective information flow. In this research, the investigator will take advantage of the unique opportunity provided by awake deep brain stimulation surgery to learn more about how the brain functions in a diseased state and how deep brain stimulation changes these networks to make movement more normal. The investigator will simultaneously assess cortical and subcortical electrophysiology in relation to clinical symptoms and behavioral measures and in response to deep brain stimulation, cortical stimulation, and pharmacologic therapy in patients undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) implantation surgery.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04957095

Run by

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

People needed

120

Starts

2022-02-18

Expected to finish

2028-12-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-22

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 89. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Diagnosis of Parkinson's disease who have been recommended to undergo deep brain stimulation for management of their movement disorder
• Preoperative MRI without evidence of cortical or subdural adhesions or vascular abnormalities
• Willingness and ability to cooperate during conscious operative procedure for up to 40 minutes

You may not qualify if…

• Patients with recent use (within one week) of anticoagulant or antiplatelet agents
• Neurocognitive testing indicating amnestic cognitive deficits

Where it is running

• UT Southwestern Medical Center — Dallas, Texas, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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