Sensory Training to Treat Focal Dystonia

March 3, 2008 updated by: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Sensory Training for Treatment of Focal Dystonia

This study will examine the effectiveness of Braille reading as a sensory training program for improving symptoms of focal (localized) dystonia, a movement disorder caused by sustained muscle contractions. Musicians, writers, typists, athletes and others whose work involves frequent repetitive movements may develop focal dystonia of the hand. Dystonia patients have an impaired sense of touch, and it is thought that symptoms may improve with sensory tactile (touch) training.

Patients with task-specific dystonia and healthy normal volunteers may be eligible for this 8-week study. Patients will undergo evaluation of their dystonia and a complete neurologic examination. Healthy volunteers will have a complete physical examination.

On the first day of the study, after 4 weeks and after 8 weeks, all participants will have a gap detection test for sensory perception testing. The test uses eight plastic devices called JVP-Domes with ridges of different widths on the surface. The subject's arm and hand are held in palm-up position and the right index finger is tested for about 1 second 20 times with each dome. The subject is asked to report whether the direction of the dome is vertical or horizontal. The test takes about 30 minutes. Patients with dystonia will also have a their symptoms evaluated at these visits. The evaluation involves completing a written questionnaire and writing a paragraph.

All participants will be trained in Braille reading at NIH. Sessions will be given every day the first week, twice a week the second and third weeks, and once a week the following weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

It has been hypothesized that dystonia may be a sensory disorder. Animal studies as well as physiological studies of patients with focal dystonia have demonstrated sensory dysfunction. It has also been shown that patients with dystonia have impaired sensory perception including when assessed with the JVP gap detection test. This could possibly result from enlargement and dedifferentiation of representations in the sensory cortex. We therefore hypothesize that sensory training could improve the impaired sensory perception and hence improve the dystonia. This study will examine if Braille reading as a sensory training program can correct the sensory perception and the dystonia. The primary outcome is improvement in the JVP gap detection test.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment

22

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • ADULT
  • OLDER_ADULT
  • CHILD

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Patients with idiopathic task specific dystonia and healthy normal volunteers.

Patients must not be receiving botulinum-toxin treatment or other medications for the past three months prior to entering the study.

Patients must be able to keep their hand in a pronated 'reading' position for one hour.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2000

Study Completion

November 1, 2001

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 4, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 4, 2000

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

October 5, 2000

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

March 4, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2008

Last Verified

November 1, 2001

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 000227
  • 00-N-0227

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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