Action Outcome Latencies as a Measure of Sense of Agency in Functional Movement Disorders.

January 19, 2026 updated by: Aditya Murgai, Western University, Canada

Functional movement disorders (FMD) are among the most common neurological conditions seen in clinical practice, yet they are poorly understood and often misdiagnosed. Impaired self-agency, the sense of controlling one's actions, is a key feature of FMD. Studies using functional MRI have shown reduced activation and connectivity in the right inferior parietal lobule, a region associated with agency.

The sense of agency consists of two components: the feeling of agency, which is an implicit, low-level sense of control over voluntary actions, and the judgment of agency, which is the conscious attribution of actions to oneself. While the feeling of agency is often measured using intentional binding tasks, judgment of agency is assessed using self-reported scales. While studies have explored intentional binding as a measure of implicit agency in FMD, few have systematically investigated judgment of agency. This study aims to fill this gap by introducing a novel approach that quantitatively evaluates judgment of agency in FMD patients using action-outcome latencies as an objective metric.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the differences between patients with FMD and healthy controls in perceiving visual and auditory outcomes as consequences of their actions. This will be assessed by measuring their judgment of agency through action-outcome latencies.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

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

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A5A5
        • University Hospital

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

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

movement disorder clinic

Description

Inclusion criteria for patients: Inclusion criteria for patients:

  1. Diagnosed with clinically definite functional movement disorder
  2. Age >18 years.
  3. Able to read and understand English.

Inclusion criteria for healthy subjects:

  1. Age >18 years.
  2. Able to read and understand English

Exclusion criteria for patients:

  1. Moderate to severe action tremor in the dominant hand limiting the ability to perform the task.
  2. Upper limb peripheral neuropathy.
  3. Unable to read and understand English.

Exclusion criteria for healthy subjects:

1. Unable to read and understand English.

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Controls
Healthy subjects
Cases
Functional Movement Disorder

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
SA Index
Time Frame: Day 1
Latencies values corresponding to positive ("YES") responses will be extracted. SA (Sense of Agency) Index will be computed by multiplying the 90th percentile latencies by the number of positive responses below this latency threshold and then dividing the result by the total number of responses (positive, negative and unsure) occurring below the same threshold.
Day 1
Latencies
Time Frame: Day 1
The 90th percentile of latency values among trials with positive ("YES") responses.
Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Western University, Canada

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 (Estimated)

January 31, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

January 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 11, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 11, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 24, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 19, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Action outcome latencies

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

At this time, IPD will not be shared due to confidentiality concerns.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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