Acupuncture for Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson DiseaseAnxietyThis is a single-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to see if acupuncture can safely and effectively manage anxiety in Parkinson's Disease. Eligible subjects will receive either real or sham acupuncture THREE times weekly for a total of SIX weeks.
Predictive Indices of Independent Activity of Daily-living in Neurorehabilitation
StrokeBrain Injuries3 morePostural and balance disorders are common in neurological disorders. They are often associated with reduced mobility and fear of falling, which strongly limit independent activities of daily living (ADL), compromise the quality of life and reduce social participation. Here the investigators apply an existing software solution to: 1) obtain biomarkers of gait deficits in 5 neurological conditions, 2) develop an automatic procedure supporting clinicians in the early identification of patients at high risk of falling as to tailor rehabilitation treatment; 3) longitudinally assess these patients to test the efficacy of rehabilitation. High-density electroencephalography (EEG), and inertial sensors located at lower limbs and at upper body levels will be used to extract the most appropriate indexes during motor tasks. The ultimate goal is to develop cost-effective treatment procedures to prevent recurrent falls and fall-related injuries and favour the reintegration of the patient into everyday activities. The first hypothesis of this study is that clinical professionals (e.g., medical doctors and rehabilitative staff) would strongly benefit from the possibility to rely on quantitative, reliable and reproducible information about patients motor deficits. This piece of information can be nowadays readily available through miniaturized wearable technology and its information content can be effectively conveyed thanks to ad hoc software solution, like the A.r.i.s.e. software. The second hypothesis of the present study is that early identification of patients at high risk of dependence and the subsequent application of personalized treatment would allow for cost-effective treatment procedures to favor the autonomy into everyday activities. The results of this project could represent a valuable support in the clinical reasoning and decision-making process.
Online Motor Control in People With Parkinson's Disease
Motor ControlParkinson DiseaseThis study aims to better understand how people with Parkinson's control reaching movements. Specifically, we are asking how these individuals respond to different environmental perturbations. Testing includes reaching movements made within a virtual reality set-up.
Efficacy of Split Gait in the Treatment of Dynamic Asymmetries in Subjects With Pathologic Claudication...
Multiple SclerosisPoststroke/CVA Hemiparesis3 moreWalking on a split-belt treadmill (each of the two belts running at a different speed) imposes an asymmetrical gait, mimicking limping that has been observed in various pathologic conditions. This walking modality has been proposed as an experimental paradigm to investigate the flexibility of the neural control of gait and as a form of therapeutic exercise for hemi-paretic patients. However, the scarcity of dynamic investigations both for segmental aspects and for the entire body system, represented by the centre of mass, challenges the validity of the available findings on split gait. Compared with overground gait in hemiplegia, split gait entails an opposite spatial and dynamic asymmetry. The faster leg mimics the paretic limb temporally, but the unimpaired limb from the spatial and dynamic point of view. These differences suggest that a partial shift in perspective may help to clarify the potential of the split gait as a rehabilitation tool. The aim of the present study is to investigate the dynamic asymmetries of lower limbs in adults with unilateral motor impairments (e.g. hemiplegia post-stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, unilateral amputation, surgical orthopedic interventions) during adaptation to gait on a split-belt treadmill. The sagittal power provided by the ankle and the total mechanical energy of the centre of mass will be thoroughly studied. The time course of phenomena both during gait when the belts are running at different speed and when the belts are set back to the same speed (i.e. the after-effect) will be investigated. A greater dynamic symmetry between the lower limbs is expected after split gait. The question whether this symmetry will occur when the pathological limb is on the faster or the lower belt will be disclosed. Some alterations of the motion of the centre of mass during split gait are also expected.
A Study of CST-103 Co-administered With CST-107 in Subjects With Parkinson's Disease Having Freezing...
Freezing of Gait Symptoms in Parkinson's DiseaseThis is a Phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study to evaluate the effect of multiple oral doses of CST-103 in the presence of CST-107 on Freezing of Gait (FOG) symptoms in subjects with Parkinson's Disease (PD).
Investigating Central Neurophysiologic Correlates of Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson DiseaseAutonomic Dysfunction1 moreThis is a randomized, single-blinded, triple crossover study focused on determining the feasibility of using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for treatment of Parkinson's disease related autonomic dysfunction and depression. Participants will undergo TMS to three brain regions: medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) (experimental site), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (alternative experimental site), or primary sensory cortex (S1) (control site) in a triple crossover design. Participants will complete symptom questionnaires, neurologic examination and cognitive assessments, and orthostatic vital signs recording before and after each brain stimulation session.
Neurodegenerative Diseases Registry
Neurodegenerative DiseasesParkinson Disease2 moreWith the increase in life expectancy of our population due to advancement of medical diagnosis and treatments, the incidence of age dependent neurodegenerative diseases increased, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), parkinsonian syndromes (PS), small vessel disease (SVD) and motor neuron disease (MND). In spite of the progress of knowing the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases at molecular and genetic level, they are still very incompletely understood and often cause diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to physicians. Due to the overlapping presentation and similar brain pathology, especially in the early stage of the diseases, it is difficult to differentiate idiopathic Parkinson's disease (iPD) from atypical parkinsonian syndromes, such as multiple system atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Similarly, distinguishing AD from other dementia syndromes including frontotemporal dementia (FTD), dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and vascular dementia can be difficult. It is necessary to develop accurate and comprehensive diagnostic tests to properly prognosticate the diseases, start treatments in early stage of the diseases and maximize the accuracy of drug trials for more effective preventive and therapeutic measures for these neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, the registry aims to generate a large database of cognitive, behavioral, lifestyle and psychological information of the subjects who suffered from neurodegenerative diseases, as well as to examine the genetic basis of neurodegenerative diseases to help decode the pathogenic mechanisms of the diseases. The registry may provide important information to understand symptom development of the neurodegenerative diseases, in which may help physicians to diagnose the diseases more accurately and provide better treatment plans.
Brain Networks and Consciousness
Loss of ConsciousnessParkinson Disease2 moreGeneral anesthesia (GA) is a medically induced state of unresponsiveness and unconsciousness, which millions of people experience every year. Despite its ubiquity, a clear and consistent picture of the brain circuits mediating consciousness and responsiveness has not emerged. Studies to date are limited by lack of direct recordings in human brain during medically induced anesthesia. Our overall hypothesis is that the current model of consciousness, originally proposed to model disorders and recovery of consciousness after brain injury, can be generalized to understand mechanisms of consciousness more broadly. This will be studied through three specific aims. The first is to evaluate the difference in anesthesia sensitivity in patients with and without underlying basal ganglia pathology. Second is to correlate changes in brain circuitry with induction and emergence from anesthesia. The third aim is to evaluate the effects of targeted deep brain stimulation on anesthesia induced loss and recovery of consciousness. This study focuses on experimentally studying these related brain circuits by taking advantage of pathological differences in movement disorder patient populations undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. DBS is a neurosurgical procedure that is used as treatment for movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, and provides a mechanism to acquire brain activity recordings in subcortical structures. This study will provide important insight by using human data to shed light on the generalizability of the current model of consciousness. The subject's surgery for DBS will be prolonged by up to 40 minutes in order to record the participant's brain activity and their responses to verbal and auditory stimuli.
Randomized Clinical Trial of Donepezil for the Treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's...
Parkinson DiseaseMild Cognitive ImpairmentPhase II, multi-centric, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel design clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of Donepezil in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson's Disease (PD-MCI). A total of 120 patients with PD-MCI will be randomized to 12 months of oral Donepezil 10mg or matching placebo (1:1). Primary and co-primary efficacy endpoints are cognitive and functional cognitive scales: PD-CRS and PD-CFRS. Secondary efficacy endpoints include: cognitive tests evaluating attention, executive functions, language, memory and visuospatial domain; mood, anxiety, and apathy scales; questionnaires to evaluate quality of life; and subjective impression scales. Serum Neurofilament light chain, genetic screening of GBA, ApoE and MAPT, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging will be performed in a subset of these patients. The study will be conducted in 20 different centers around Spain. The Movement Disorders Unit of the Neurology Department at Sant Pau Hospital (Barcelona, Spain) will be the coordinating center.
Ambroxol to Slow Progression in Parkinson Disease
Parkinson DiseaseThis is a UK only clinical trial in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) of a drug called ambroxol hydrochloride, which is an already licensed drug for the treatment of respiratory conditions (such as a common cold) in many European countries. The aim of this trial is to find out whether ambroxol hydrochloride can slow down the progression of Parkinson's disease and to evaluate it's safety and tolerability.