Clinical Trial: Plasticity in Cervical Dystonia
Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Plasticity in Cervical Dystonia
Brief Summary:
This study will identify changes that occur in the part of the brain that controls hand movements in patients with cervical (neck) dystonia. Patients with dystonia have muscle spasms that cause abnormal postures while trying to perform a movement. In focal dystonia, just one part of the body, such as the hand, neck or face, is involved. The study will compare findings in healthy volunteers and patients with cervical dystonia to learn more about the condition.
Healthy volunteers and patients with cervical dystonia 18 years of age and older may be eligible to participate. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination. Participants undergo the following tests:
Somatosensory evoked potentials (Visits 1 and 2)
This test examines how sensory information travels from the nerves to the spinal cord and brain. An electrode placed on an arm or leg delivers a small electrical stimulus and additional electrodes placed on the scalp, neck and over the collarbone record how the impulse from the stimulus travels over the nerve pathways.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Visits 2, 3 and 4)
This procedure maps brain function. A wire coil is held on the scalp. A brief electrical current passes through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the brain. The stimulation may cause a twitch in muscles of the face, arm, or leg, and the subject may hear a click and feel a pulling sensation on the skin under the coil.
Nerve conduction studies (Visits 2, 3 and 4)
This test measures how fast nerves conduct electrical impulses and the strength of the connection between
Detailed Summary:
Objectives
The main objective of this proposal is to evaluate plasticity in patients with cervical dystonia. Neither abnormal Hebbian nor non-Hebbian plasticity has been studied for cervical dystonia.
Our specific objectives are to show that:
- In patients with cervical dystonia, Hebbian plasticity can be induced by using paired associative stimulation (PAS) of the dystonic sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) muscle and will be enhanced compared to that of healthy subjects.
- In patients with cervical dystonia, non-Hebbian plasticity can be induced by using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) of the dystonic SCM muscle and will be enhanced compared to that of healthy subjects.
- In patients with cervical dystonia, Hebbian and non-Hebbian plasticity can be induced by dual stimulation (DS) of the dystonic SCM muscle, this effect will be greater than PAS or TENS alone, and it will be enhanced compared to that of healthy subjects.
Study Population
We will study 22 patients with cervical dystonia and 22 healthy subjects for a total of 44 subjects.
Study Design
Subjects will participate in 4 different sessions:
Visit 1: clinical screening (1 hour) and sensory evoked potential (SEP) assessment (2 hours, total of 3 hours).
Visit 2: PAS session of the target muscle and monitoring of cortical excitability before (T0), immediately after (T1), 45 minutes after (T2) and 90 minute
Sponsor: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Current Primary Outcome:
Original Primary Outcome:
Current Secondary Outcome:
Original Secondary Outcome:
Information By: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
Dates:
Date Received: May 9, 2006
Date Started: May 5, 2006
Date Completion: May 20, 2008
Last Updated: January 24, 2017
Last Verified: May 20, 2008
