Recruiting

Movement Disorders

Sponsor:

University of Pennsylvania

Code:

NCT06848530

Conditions

Movement Disorders

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Prescribed Medications

Deep brain stimulation adjustment

Study Details

Brief summary:

The research study is being conducted to better understand parts of the human brain called the cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum in patients with movement disorders (such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia, or ataxia). These brain structures are involved in movement disorders. This study attempts to better understand the brain electrical activity associated with these disorders, both in patients with and without deep brain stimulation (DBS). Recordings are made from the scalp with a noninvasive electrode and/or through the DBS stimulator if the participant has a stimulator model that is able to sense brain activity. These recordings are analyzed along with measures of movement disorder symptoms to identify brain signal signatures of symptoms.

Conditions

Movement Disorders

Study ID

NCT06848530

Start date

Dec 10, 2025

Status verified date

Jul, 2026

Completion date

Apr, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Apr, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients 18 years of age and above
  • Any patient who has been diagnosed by a movement disorders neurologist with one of the following movement disorders:
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Dystonia
  • Tremor, including essential tremor
  • Cerebellar ataxia
  • Other hyperkinetic movement disorders, such as chorea and tics

Exclusion Criteria:

\- Patients with dementia

Study Design

Enrollment

100 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Participants without Deep Brain Stimulators

Multimodal neurophysiology (for example, electroencephalography and electromyography) will be measured during the following:

Movement disorder medication administration -The patient's movement disorders medications, prescribed by their treating physicians outside of this study, may be administered during an experimental session.

experimental: Participants with Deep Brain Stimulators

Multimodal neurophysiology (for example, electroencephalography and electromyography) will be measured during the following:

Movement disorder medication administration -The patient's movement disorders medications, prescribed by their treating physicians outside of this study, may be administered during an experimental session.

Deep brain stimulator (DBS) adjustment - Participants who have had deep brain stimulation implantation as part of their standard-of-care clinical treatment may participate in this study. The patient's stimulator may be adjusted within normal clinical limits during an experimental session.

Interventions

Prescribed Medications

participant's movement disorders medications, prescribed by their treating physician

Deep brain stimulation adjustment

Deep brain stimulator parameters may be adjusted within normal clinical limits

Primary outcome measure

  • Neural signal biomarkers [ Time Frame: 5 years ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Locations

Pennsylvania Hospital

Recruiting

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107

Contacts

Charlotte Abeshaus

215-746-4850Charlotte.Abeshaus@PennMedicine.upenn.edu

Principal Investigator:

Lauren Hammer, MD, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Last update posted

Jul 14, 2026

Last verified

Jul, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-08. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Pennsylvania on 2026-07-14.