Studying Eye-Hand Control and Brain Signals in Parkinson Disease

AI summary

From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.

The trial is looking for adults with Parkinson's disease, with or without freezing of gait, and for healthy adults of a similar age as a comparison group.

Age

Above 18 years

Sex

All sexes can join.

Disease stage

Parkinson's disease, with freezing of gait or without it. Healthy controls can also join.

Main reasons for not taking part

• Neurological disorders other than Parkinson's disease
• Diagnosed psychological disorders, or a tendency of anxiety and/or depression
• History of seizure, or family history of epilepsy
• Deep brain stimulation or a pacemaker implanted
• Pregnant

The registry criteria, word for word

What the trial wants to find out

Visuomotor processing is the ability to integrate visual information into motor plans and movement correction, which is highly required in daily activities such as writing and walking. As visual impairments have been reported in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), it is likely that those impairments may affect visuomotor processing ability and subsequently impair motor performance. Furthermore, people with PD and freezing of gait (FOG) have exhibited poorer visual perception than those without FOG, yet the differences of visuomotor control have not been well investigated. Additionally, little did the studies apply neurophysiological assessment to investigate the associated neural mechanisms. This study aims to investigate behavioral and neurophysiological differences in visuomotor control among people with PD and FOG (freezers), without FOG (non-freezers), and age-matched healthy controls. Sixty-three participants, 21 freezers, 21 non-freezers, and 21 age-matched healthy controls, will be enrolled in this study. Behavioral assessments, including a manual control task and visual perception tests will be used to evaluate visuomotor and visual perceptual abilities. Neurophysiological correlates, including corticomotor excitability and corticocortical connectivity between V1-M1 and PPC-M1, will be examined using transcranial magnetic stimulation. It is hypothesized that freezers will demonstrate the greatest visuomotor impairments and disrupted corticocortical connectivity compared to non-freezers and controls. By integrating behavioral and neurophysiological outcomes, this study seeks to unravel the mechanisms linking visual and motor impairments to FOG, ultimately providing insights into targeted interventions to improve visuomotor processing and motor performance in PD.

The 3 groups in the trial

• FOG

  Participants with Parkinson disease and freezing of gait

• NFOG

  Participants with Parkinson disease without freezing of gait

• CON

  Age-matched healthy adults