Active clinical trials for "Parkinson Disease"

The aim of this research program is to develop and validate a smartphone app-based digital measurement concept that: Objectively quantifies the severity of Parkinson's Disease (PD) related vocal and speech symptoms; Accurately and sensitively identifies vocal and speech abnormalities associated with the prodromal stage of PD.

Background: delirium describes the change in people's behaviour and thinking when they are unwell. People with delirium may appear confused, have difficulty with organisation and can be different to their usual personality. Older people with Parkinson's are particularly susceptible to persistent delirium, which can last over 14 days. They are more likely to need increased community support and they have a greater risk of death and dementia. However, there is limited research for people with Parkinson's on how to effectively manage persistent delirium and how to identify those at risk of persistent delirium. Community support may not sufficiently support the care needs of people with Parkinson's, and this is expected to be more detrimental for people also affected by persistent delirium Study Design: retrospective case note review with qualitative interviews. Study participants: older people (≥65 years old) with Parkinson's disease, previously affected by either persistent delirium or another form of delirium (e.g. hyperactive, hypoactive, mixed). 207 participants with Parkinson's for quantitative data collection. The qualitative study will include up to 10 participants with Parkinson's from the quantitative part of this study. An additional maximum of 10 more carers for people with Parkinson's may also be interviewed. Research Aims: To develop and estimate the assessment tool's sensitivity and specificity to predict persistent delirium in older people with Parkinson's in the outpatient setting. Persistent delirium in this study will be initially defined as a delirium lasting ≥14 days. An associated secondary objective will be to develop a scoring system that allocates an increasing number of points to risk factors that have a stronger association for predicting delirium. To evaluate the management strategies used for persistent delirium. To determine what are the community care needs for people recovering from persistent delirium.

Several strategies or contexts help patients with Parkinson's disease to move more quickly or normally, however the brain mechanisms underlying these phenomena are poorly understood. The proposed studies use intraoperative recordings during DBS surgery for Parkinson's disease to understand the brain mechanisms supporting improved movements elicited by external cues. The central hypothesis is that distinct networks are involved in movement improvement depending on characteristics of the facilitating stimulus. Participants will perform movement tasks during awake surgery performed exclusively for clinical indications. The identified biomarkers may provide targets for future neuromodulation therapies to improve symptoms that are refractory to current treatments, such as freezing of gait.

The clinical trial aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) and Globus Pallidus internus (GPi) deep brain stimulation (DBS) with the AlphaDBS IPG System when programmed in adaptive versus conventional stimulating modes. It includes an initial open-label, crossover phase and a long term follow-up phase, during which the patient is free to switch between stimulating modes.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a gold-standard symptomatic treatment option for Parkinson's disease (PD) and is also explored for a variety of other neurological disorders. The implantation of electrodes into deep brain areas has not only enabled the application of electrical stimuli, but has also provided researchers and clinicians with an unprecedented window to investigate aberrant neuronal activity right at the core of pathological brain circuits. Local field potentials (LFP) have already been readily investigated through externalised DBS electrode wires prior to internalisation and connection to an implantable neurostimulator. In the case of PD, motor symptoms have been evidenced to correlate with exaggerated beta oscillatory activity (13-35 Hz) in the LFP recorded from the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Firstly, beta activity recorded in the STN at rest in patients withdrawn from their medication has been correlated with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) across patients. Secondly, a reduction of signal power in the beta-band was correlated with clinical improvements of motor symptoms. Thirdly, the two main therapeutic strategies, the administration of L-Dopa, and high-frequency DBS both lead to a suppression of beta-synchronicity in the STN. Furthermore, beta-oscillations show fast and movement-dependent modulation over time and can serve as a biomarker and feedback signal to control the delivery of DBS. The investigators recently implemented deep brain electrical neurofeedback to provide real-time visual neurofeedback of pathological STN oscillations through externalised DBS electrodes and showed that PD patients were able to volitionally control and reduce subthalamic activity within a single 1 hour session. Moreover, neurofeedback-learnt strategies accelerated movements and could be retained in the short- and mid-term. Only recently, a newly developed neurostimulator, the Percept™ PC (Medtronic Neurological Division, Minneapolis, MN, USA), has been clinically approved, which can not only apply electrical impulses, but also enable the measurement and transmission of brain activity. This neurostimulator is now the first choice for implantations at the University Hospital Zurich and is used for a variety of neurological disorders. The investigators' goal is to investigate whether neurofeedback through a fully implanted deep brain stimulation device is possible and can lead to a better control of pathological oscillations as well as symptom mitigation. Having shown that endogenous control over deep brain oscillations is possible, the investigators will also test this novel therapeutic approach for pathologies other than PD that are also treated with DBS. Neurofeedback using implanted DBS electrodes will have the advantage of enabling longer and multiple-day training sessions, which the investigators hypothesise to have a larger impact on control over pathological deep brain oscillations and neurological symptoms, as such a fully implanted neurofeedback system no longer requires the externalisation of DBS wires and is as such no longer limited to the first two days after electrode implantation. All in all, the investigators will not exceed a total streaming time of 7 hours per patients (7 d of battery time), which the investigators deem justifiable with respect to a battery life of > 5 years. This proposed research is highly significant as it will help our understanding of various neurological diseases that are highly prevalent in society (PD being, for instance, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease) and might culminate in novel, endogenous treatment strategies. The overall risk for patients is minimal to non-existent, as stimulation parameters are unaffected and the intended changes in brain activity are self-induced while DBS stimulation is off.

This observational study is designed to collect data on the use of the drug Lecigon® in daily clinical practice. The study is organised and funded by a pharmaceutical company called Britannia Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Britannia). Lecigon® is prescribed by physicians in advanced Parkinson's disease when patients suffer from uncontrollable fluctuations in mobility, so-called motor fluctuations, which cannot be adjusted well with oral treatment, i.e. medication for swallowing. In this study, data on the effect and possible side effects from everyday treatment with Lecigon® will be collected and scientifically evaluated. The study is intended to supplement the results of previous clinical studies with clinical data in routine medical care, collected from approximately 300 patients.

Currently, the Movement Disorders Society (MDS)-UPDRS scale remains the gold standard to document the outcomes in clinical trials for Parkinson's disease (PD). The MDS-UPDRS is far from infallible, as it is based on subjective scoring (using a rather crude ordinal score), while execution of the tests depends on clinical experience. Not surprisingly, the scale is subject to both significant intra- and inter-rater variability that are sufficiently large to mask an underlying true difference between an effective intervention and placebo. Digital biomarkers may be able to overcome the limitations of the MDS-UPDRS, as they continuously collects real-time data, during the patient's day to day activities. In this study the investigators are interested in developing algorithms to track progression of bradykinesia, gait impairment, postural sway, tremor, physical activity, sleep quality, and autonomic dysfunction (the latter being derived from e.g. skin conductance and changes in heart rate variability).

ntroduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized as a neurodegenerative disorder associated with progressive loss of dopamine in the basal ganglia region, resulting in classic motor symptoms such as bradykinesia, rigidity, postural instability and tremor. Such symptoms end up affecting the functionality of the upper limbs (MMS) in this population. In recent years, Virtual Reality (VR)-based therapy has been gaining popularity, but studies in the area are still lacking. Objective: To verify the benefits of virtual reality in individuals with PD above 65 years of age and in individuals below 65 years of age in the functionality of the upper limbs and to identify possible differences between them. Methodology: This is a randomized clinical trial, in which the evaluators will be separated into two experimental groups (single-blind). Subjects with PD will be randomized into two groups: Group Over 65 years of age (GI1), and Group below 64 years of age (GI2). Both will receive treatment with virtual reality games in a non-immersive environment (flat screen) through the Leap Motion Controller (LMC) device. Both treatments will focus on large and fine upper limb tasks, in a protocol with 4 activities and duration of approximately 27 minutes, twice a week, for eight weeks. The two groups will be evaluated in three moments: before the intervention and immediately after 8 weeks. They will be analyzed at the ADL level, through the TEMPA test and part II of the unified PD assessment (MDS-UPDRS II); motor assessment (part III) of the MDS-UPDRS and motor staging of PD (Hoehn & Yahr); manual dexterity through the Box and Block test and the Nine Hole Peg Test; cognition by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); quality of life through the PD questionnaire (PDQ-39); the usability of the system (SUS); and possible side effects (Simulator Sickness Questionnaire). It is expected that this study will show that the treatment applied to the younger population presents better results when applied to the older population.

INTRODUCTION: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a critical transitional stage in dementia related disorders. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and the lateral parietal (LPC) cortex are subjected to neuropathological changes in MCI. Parietal memory network (PMN) integrity alterations and default mode network (DMN) alterations also occur in MCI. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising neuroprotective tool that modulates functional connectivity and might be useful to interfere with cognitive decline in relation to amnestic MCI (aMCI) and Parkinson's disease-MCI (PD-MCI) when applied to DLPFC and LPC. METHODS: This is a multicenter, randomized, and controlled study evaluating the effectiveness of anodal tDCS (atDCS ) applied bilaterally to the DLPFC/F3-F4 and LPC/ P3-P4 for 5 sessions with a total of 10 sessions in 14 days. The stimulation will be delivered with a 2 mA current frequency and will last 20 minutes a day for 5 days a week. The study consists of anodal, and sham control groups with a total of 120 participants with DLPFC and LPC anodal groups including 40 participants each and sham including 40 participants which are all between 45-80 years of age. At baseline and as an outcome measure, neurocognitive evaluation will be conducted using various tests standardized to use in the Turkish population. Functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) will be used to detect possible PMN and DMN alterations and hippocampal connectivity, and electroencephalogram (EEG) will be used to assess possible electrophysiological alterations that may happen as a result of atDCS. Baseline evaluation will be done before atDCS sessions and it will be repeated at the end of 14 days and 90 days. DISCUSSION: This study aims to explore the effectiveness of atDCS in PD-MCI, aMCI and to contribute to the literature in the field.

The purpose of this exploratory single-blinded randomized control trial is to explore the effects of a lateral stepping program integrated into an existing community-based group exercise program for people with PD. The researchers hypothesize that participation in a lateral stepping program a minimum of 2 times/week for 8 weeks, in addition to RSB class participation, will decrease fall risk factors, increase balance confidence, and decrease fear of falling in participants in the experimental group compared to the control group. The researchers also hypothesize that the integration of this program into an existing community-based RSB program will be deemed feasible as shown by the number of sessions attended by each participant and their satisfaction