Online Motor Control in People With Parkinson's Disease

This study aims to better understand how people with Parkinson's control reaching movements. Specifically, we are asking how these individuals respond to different environmental perturbations. Testing includes reaching movements made within a virtual reality set-up.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Parkinson Disease; Motor Control
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: motor control assessment

Detailed Description

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting approximately up to 10 million people worldwide and with 60,000 new cases diagnosed annually in the U.S. alone. Some of the most common signs and symptoms in individuals with PD are slowed and small movements and difficulty in movement initiation. The ability to correct movements online in response to environmental changes is an important part of daily living. Online movement corrections in reaching refer to the ability to smoothly change how and where you reach in response to a change in the environment. For example, one can adjust the position of the hand and arm when trying to catch a butterfly flying in the air. Generally speaking, online movement corrections can happen in response to visual perturbations (e.g., trying to catch a butterfly) or to force perturbations (e.g., someone knocks your hand while you're holding a coffee mug). Since individuals with PD have trouble with movements, it stands to reason that they may have problems with online movement corrections. Surprisingly, very little is known about online movement corrections in individuals with PD. The current evidence suggests that individuals with PD can make online movement corrections to small visual perturbations, but whether they can successfully respond to large visual perturbations is debatable. Furthermore, whether individuals with PD can make online movement corrections to force perturbations has not been studied. The aim of this project is to investigate if individuals with PD can make online movement corrections during reaching to visual and/or force perturbations. We will test both individuals with PD and age-matched healthy controls. They will perform reaching movements while visual or force perturbations are applied. We will use various perturbation strengths in order to test for potential differences in responses to small and large perturbations. Results from this study will provide new information on how individuals with PD make online movement corrections, and possibly provide insight to improving rehabilitation for PD.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Hyosub Kim, PhD; Phone Number: 302-831-4263; Email: hyosub@udel.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Delaware
    • Newark, Delaware, United States, 19713
      • Recruiting
      • University of Delaware
      • Contact: Joie Tang
      • Principal Investigator: Hyosub Kim, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion criteria (all participants):

• Age 18-85 years
• Able to perform reaching movements of ~20 cm (8 inches)
• MMSE score ≥ 26/30
• Willing and able to attend all testing sessions

Inclusion criteria (PD group only):

• Diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease per self report
• Currently taking dopaminergic/dopamine agonist medication

Exclusion criteria (all participants):

• Any chronic or recent upper extremity musculoskeletal conditions that affects reaching
• Any neurological disorders other than Parkinson's disease (e.g., seizure disorders, closed head injuries with loss of consciousness greater than 15 minutes, CNS neoplasm, history of stroke)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Behavioral testing	Behavioral: motor control assessment; Basic science study of control of reaching movements

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
End-point errors	Euclidean distance from target to final hand position (units: cm); measurement derived from position data sampled at 1000 Hz	during intervention
Reaction times	Time from visual target presentation to movement onset (units: ms); measurement derived from position data sampled at 1000 Hz	during intervention
Movement times	Time from movement onset to movement end (units: ms); measurement derived from position data sampled at 1000 Hz	during intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Delaware
• Collaborators: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hyosub Kim, PhD, University of Delaware

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 12, 2018
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 12, 2024
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 12, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 23, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 30, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): November 5, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 5, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 30, 2020
• Last Verified: October 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Parkinson disease; motor learning; motor control
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Parkinsonian Disorders; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Movement Disorders; Synucleinopathies; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Parkinson Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1358328-5

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No