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Attention and Eye Movement in Parkinson's Disease

University of Nebraska · with National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) · NCT06899022

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 19–90 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
138
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
September 22, 2025
Record last updated
May 5, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

The goal of this observational and interventional study is to understand how therapeutic deep brain stimulation (DBS) affects attention, perception and cognition in participants with Parkinson's disease (PD) and non-PD movement disorders, including essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT). The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does impaired control of attention and eye movement in PD alter how social cues are perceived and interpreted?
  • Does therapeutic DBS improve or worsen attentional and perceptual deficits for social cues in PD, ET and DT?
  • Can DBS be optimized to restore normal attentional control in PD while remaining an effective therapy for other aspects of the disorder.
  • What do parts of the brain targeted by DBS contribute to the control of attention?

Using an eye tracking camera, investigators will study how participants with PD, ET and DT look at and perceive facial expressions of emotion before and after starting DBS therapy, in comparison to a group of healthy participants without ET, PD, DT or DBS. Participants with PD, ET and DT will see and rate morphed facial expressions on a computer screen in three conditions:

  • Before starting DBS therapy (over approximately 1 hour).
  • In the operating room, during the standard procedure to implant DBS electrodes, while the participant is awake (for no more than 15 minutes).
  • After starting DBS therapy, with brief experimental changes of DBS stimulation level and frequency (over approximately 1 hour).

Being studied: Normal therapeutic DBS; Reduced current DBS; Reduced frequency DBS

Conditions: Essential Tremor; Parkinson's Disease (PD); Dystonias

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • All Participants (Aim 1):
  • Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study
  • Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider
  • Age 19 - 90 years
  • DBS Participants (Aim 1):
  • Diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) or dystonia (DT).
  • Scheduled for new implantation of a therapeutic DBS device targeted to subthalamic nucleus (STN), ventral intermediate nucleus of thalamus (VIM) or internal globus pallidus (GPi)
  • Comparison Participants (Aim 1):

o Selection by age matching to participants in PD group

  • Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 2):
  • Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study
  • Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider
  • Age 19 - 90 years
  • Scheduled for awake DBS implantation with clinical micro-electrode recordings (MER)
  • Willing and able to engage in tasks during an awake surgical procedure
  • Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 3):
  • Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study
  • Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider
  • Age 19 - 90 years
  • Willing to undergo acute manipulations of DBS
  • Able to tolerate acute changes of DBS

Exclusion Criteria

  • All Participants (Aim 1):
  • Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli
  • Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements
  • DBS Participants (Aim 1):

o Insufficient therapeutic control of motor symptoms to engage in tasks requiring button press or use of a mouse to control a slider

  • Healthy Comparison Participants (Aim 1):

o History of neurodegenerative disorder

  • Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 2):
  • Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli
  • Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements
  • Not undergoing awake DBS implantation
  • Uncorrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli
  • Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 3):
  • Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli
  • Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements
  • Failure of DBS to achieve a therapeutic effect on motor symptoms

Recruiting US locations

  • University of Nebraska Medical Center

    Omaha, NE 68198

    Site contact: Dulce V Maroni, PhD · 402-836-9751 · dmaroni@unmc.edu

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Christopher K Kovach, PhD · 319-471-3372 · ckovach@unmc.edu
  • Dulce Maroni, PhD · 402-836-9751 · dmaroni@unmc.edu
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Attention and Eye Movement in Parkinson's Disease (NCT06899022) | Bored Studies