Neurophysiology of Locomotor Adaptation and Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease

July 13, 2026 updated by: University of Florida
Locomotor adaptation will be studied using an established split-belt treadmill paradigm, consisting of baseline (1:1 speed ratio), split-belt adaptation (2:1) and post-adaptation (1:1) walking. Split-belt walking will be performed under DBS ON and DBS OFF conditions, while off-medication.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

We will test the hypotheses that DBS can facilitate split-belt walking adaptation with DBS ON compared with DBS OFF.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32611
        • Recruiting
        • University of Florida
        • Contact:
          • Julia Choi

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • consensus diagnosis of idiopathic PD by fellowship trained movement disorders neurologists at the Normal Fixel Institute of Neurological Diseases;
  • chronically stable DBS, defined as having had DBS for at least 6 months in duration with optimized DBS settings;
  • Age between 18 - 80 years old per the FDA data sheet for PD DBS;
  • no dementia according to the clinical diagnostic criteria for PD dementia;
  • ambulatory without the use of walking aids, or another person's assistance.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • other previous neurological surgery;
  • suspicion of other neurologic diagnoses such as atypical parkinsonism, or Alzheimer's disease.

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?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: DBS ON
DBS will be turned on
Device: Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
Patients will receive DBS in the clinically-optimized setting.
No Intervention: DBS OFF
DBS will be turned off

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Step length rate of adaptation
Time Frame: 1 hour
The rate of adaptation in step length asymmetry is estimated by fitting an exponential decay function to step length asymmetry over the first 100 strides in adaptation.
1 hour
Step length magnitude of adaptation
Time Frame: 1 hour
The magnitude of adaptation in step length asymmetry is calculated as the mean difference in step length asymmetry between early and late adaptation.
1 hour
Step length after-effects
Time Frame: 1 hour
The after-effect in step length asymmetry is calculated as the mean difference in step length asymmetry between baseline and early post-adaptation.
1 hour

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Florida

Collaborators

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

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 (Actual)

October 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 28, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 28, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

April 4, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 13, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB202401786
  • R21AG088600 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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