Active clinical trials for "Motor Neuron Disease"

The purpose of this observational study is to improve understanding of the biology of why ALS, MS and FTD have different effects on different people and facilitate better measurement of the disease in future drug testing. To do this, brain and spinal cord neural network functionality will be measured over time, in addition to profiling of movement and non-movement symptoms, in large groups of patients, as well as in a population-based sample of the healthy population. Patterns of dysfunction which relate to patients' diagnosis and coinciding and future symptoms which align with categories of patients with similar prognoses will be investigated and their ability to predict incident patients' symptoms in future will be measured.

The measurement of the facial deformation according to the body posture will be conducted by 3D scanning for each posture after marking the landmarks on the face. A 3D scan of the face will be conducted for 1 minute in a static state for the sitting posture to be used as a reference, the supine posture to gaze at the ceiling while lying down correctly, and the lateral posture to the side with the upper body facing left. Healthy volunteer and ALS with bulbar palsy participants will be asked to keep their mouths closed gently while the 3D scan was being processed. A post-processing of the 3D face scan data will be conducted to analyze facial deformation by the body postures. A facial deformation will be analyzed by measuring the amount of change in position for each reference point after aligning and rotating the facial data on the same basis. The relative ratio of the amount of position change to the size of the face will be analyzed. The present study will analyze the effect of the body posture on the position changes of the landmarks.

This study will establish a comprehensive exon database of ALS patients, lay the foundation for screening the genes related to the occurrence and development of the disease, support the theory of ALS disease progression from peripheral to central, and reveal the correlation between the functional level of peripheral nerve and the prognosis of the disease at the gene level for the first time, and provide the basis for the mechanism research at the molecular level.

Chinese cnaq scale was used to evaluate the appetite changes of Chinese ALS patients; Objective to investigate the related factors of appetite changes in ALS patients; Objective to investigate the effect of anorexia on the progression and survival of ALS patients.

The current project will aid patients with motor impairment to reduce the need for homecare. Specifically the aim is to develop and implement a robotic exoskeleton and brain computer interface to assist and eventually perform arm and hand movement in patients with the progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS. This proposal brings together state-of-the-art robotic technology, EEG-based brain computer interface (BCI) know-how, clinical expertise, patient perspective and industrial partners to develop and implement a robotic arm/hand device that will adapt, with increasing brain-computer control, based on the need of the patient. In short the BCI will measure electroencephalography (EEG) from the surface of the scalp and recognize signature EEG as the patient intents to move. As the patient loses muscle power the BCI robotic-device will gradually take over and support motor activity, even when the patient is totally paralyzed. As the device supports hand/arm function only, the investigators aim to address ADLs associated to hand function, specifically eating activities.

G72 gene is located on the common linkage locus in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and it encodes D-amino acid oxidase activator (DAOA). There are evidences that elucidated G72 and D-amino acid oxidase(DAO) together playing a critical role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Recently, reports discovered missense mutations in the DAO (R199W DAO and R38H DAO) are associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), and our preliminary data showed that the level of G72 autoantibody decreases in patients with ALS compared with normal control. Thus, we want to find out whether G72 plays a role in ALS and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer disease and Parkinson's disease. First, we detect G72 protein and its autoantibody in sera of neurodegenerative diseases patients using ELISA and Western blotting, and the data are compared with normal control. We hypothesize the levels of G72 protein and its autoantibody in neurodegenerative diseases are less than those in normal control. Then, we extract genomic DNA of neurodegenerative diseases patients, and use polymerase chain reaction(PCR) to detect single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of G72. We aim to detect G72 missense SNP variants presented in ALS, AD and PD.

This project aims to develop a smart communication system for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), especially for stage 3 and stage 4 (late stage). Patients with ALS will be able to communicate with outer environment by means of mental control or eye tracking control, which would increase their life quality. This integrated research project includes experts from different domains and proposes a solution for smart communication system.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or else known as Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a rapidly progressive fatal neurological disease that strikes in the prime of life, and for which there is no treatment. The principal aim of management is to maintain quality of life and reduce the symptoms of the disease. This requires a multidisciplinary approach using best practice for symptom alleviation, including innovation approaches towards maximising quality of life. The purpose of this study is to use existing information drawn from partner countries into a system of care that is available to people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the correct time, in the correct format and in a cost effective manner. This will be achieved by collecting details of patient and carer experiences across all stages of from diagnosis to end of life, including decision making in the terminal stages of the disease. A health economic analysis will help to identify the overall costs of disease management, provide models of increased efficiency that preserve and maximize quality of life, and begin to develop novel health economic measurement tools for terminal neurological illness. The completed project will provide a user-friendly best practice programme for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that can be modified for management of other related degenerative diseases of the nervous system.

Prospective multicenter study of subjects who were recently diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or another neurodegenerative disease (including spinal cord diseases, muscle diseases and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, multifocal motor neuropathy, myasthenia gravis and spinal muscular atrophy) or who are currently undergoing diagnostic procedures for the aforementioned diseases. Approximately 300 subjects will be enrolled. Subjects will undergo a lumbar puncture (LP) for cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) collection; blood collection for serum, plasma, RNA, and DNA (optional); urine collection (optional); and skin biopsy (optional) in a single visit. No study treatment will be administered. Subjects will be managed and treated by their respective physicians; choice of therapy or laboratory tests will not be impacted by the study. Clinical diagnosis may be confirmed by the subject's physician and communicated to the study's Principal Investigator (PI) by scheduled telephone calls.

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine specific clinical features, molecular abnormalities, and laboratory-based biological markers of free radical stress that are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and influence disease severity.