Dystonia

The primary objective of this study is to characterize real-world clinical outcomes of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) using retrospective review of de-identified patient records.

This study looks at how a medicine called trihexyphenidyl works in children with dystonic cerebral palsy. The study aims to understand how trihexyphenidyl is broken down and used in the body of pediatric patients and whether this is impacted by a person's genetics. Information from this study will also be used to design future clinical trials.

The goal of this study is to understand the development and progression of childhood dystonia, a movement disorder, in children. The main questions it aims to answer are: How does the activity of the neural network evolve in children with dystonia in the context of motor development? What are the effects of chronic and active stimulation on cortical and subcortical motor network function in children with deep brain stimulation (DBS)? Participants will: * Undergo noninvasive electrophysiological measurements (EEG, EMG) to quantify neural network activity. They will be tested at rest and during a simple motor reaction task. * Children with DBS will be assessed in the on and off DBS state to assess effects of chronic and active changes in motor network function.

Stride Dystonia is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of VIM0423 in individuals with isolated dystonia. The main objectives of this clinical trial are to determine the following: * Does VIM0423 therapy improve dystonia symptoms compared to placebo? * Is VIM0423 well tolerated in individuals with isolated dystonia? and * Do the therapeutic effects of VIM0423 confer improvements on daily function and quality of life?

The objective of this study is to compile real-world outcomes of Boston Scientific commercially approved radiofrequency (RF) ablation systems used in the central nervous system (CNS) for use in functional neurosurgery.

The primary objective of this study is to characterize real-world clinical outcomes of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) using retrospective review of de-identified patient records.

To compile characteristics of real-world outcomes of Boston Scientific Corporation's commercially approved VerciseTM Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Systems for the treatment of dystonia.

Background: \- Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an approved surgery for certain movement disorders, like Parkinson's disease, that do not respond well to other treatments. DBS uses a battery-powered device called a neurostimulator (like a pacemaker) that is placed under the skin in the chest. It is used to stimulate the areas of the brain that affect movement. Stimulating these areas helps to block the nerve signals that cause abnormal movements. Researchers also want to record the brain function of people with movement disorders during the surgery. Objectives: * To study how DBS surgery affects Parkinson s disease, dystonia, and tremor. * To obtain information on brain and nerve cell function during DBS surgery. Eligibility: \- People at least 18 years of age who have movement disorders, like Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. Design: * Researchers will screen patients with physical and neurological exams to decide whether they can have the surgery. Patients will also have a medical history, blood tests, imaging studies, and other tests. Before the surgery, participants will practice movement and memory tests. * During surgery, the stimulator will be placed to provide the right amount of stimulation for the brain. Patients will perform the movement and memory tests that they practiced earlier. * After surgery, participants will recover in the hospital. They will have a followup visit within 4 weeks to turn on and adjust the stimulator. The stimulator has to be programmed and adjusted over weeks to months to find the best settings. * Participants will return for followup visits at 1, 2, and 3 months after surgery. Researchers will test their movement, memory, and general quality of life. Each visit will last about 2 hours.

Dystonia is a motor disorder caused by involuntary, intermittent, or sustained muscle contractions, leading to abnormal movements or postures. It can affect any body region and often results in significant functional disability and healthcare burden. Although its familial nature was recognized early on, the advent of high-throughput DNA sequencing has dramatically increased the identification of dystonia-associated genes. Dystonia now encompasses all modes of inheritance-autosomal dominant (e.g., TOR1A, KMT2B), autosomal recessive, X-linked, and mitochondrial-and over 100 genes have been implicated. Many forms involve structural variants (SVs) or copy number variations (CNVs), which are challenging to detect using standard short-read sequencing (srWGS). Molecular diagnosis is essential, ending the diagnostic odyssey and enabling genetic counseling, prognosis, reproductive planning, and-in some cases-targeted therapies. For instance, GNAO1-related dystonia may respond to deep brain stimulation, while dopa-responsive dystonia benefits from levodopa. Despite advances, srWGS has key limitations, especially for detecting repeat expansions, SVs, and phasing alleles. This likely explains the low diagnostic yield in dystonia compared to other neurological disorders, with over 70% of cases remaining unsolved. Long-read sequencing (lrWGS), such as Oxford Nanopore technology, overcomes many of these challenges by reading native DNA fragments thousands of bases long. It enables comprehensive detection of SNVs, indels, SVs, CNVs, methylation changes, and repeat expansions-including known and newly discovered pathogenic expansions (e.g., in NOTCH2NLC). It also allows phasing without parental samples, which is crucial in recessive cases. The investigators propose that lrWGS could significantly increase the diagnostic yield in dystonia, improving patient care, enabling appropriate genetic counseling, and paving the way for personalized treatment strategies.

The goal of this prospective open label study is to elucidate the pathophysiology of dystonia and to understand how deep brain stimulation (DBS) influences brain networks. The investigators will enroll patients with dystonia implanted with DBS of the Globus Pallidus internus (GPi) with sensing implantable neurostimulators, capable of measuring GPi local field potentials (LFPs). The main questions it aims to answer are: * does DBS influence pallidal LFPs in the long term? * how the basal-ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuit is modified after DBS? * do LFPs changes correlate with clinical improvement? Participants will undergo to serial clinical evaluations, magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies. Primarily, the data obtained from our study might help in clarifying basic pathological electrophysiological features of dystonia. These features might be secondarily used in future to provide a framework for an effective application of closed-loop DBS in Dystonia.

In this research study the researchers want to learn more about brain activity related to speech perception and production.

There is limited data on outcomes for children who have undergone deep brain stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders, and individual centers performing this surgery often lack sufficient cases to power research studies adequately. This study aims to develop a multicenter pediatric DBS registry that allows multiple sites to share clinical pediatric DBS data. The primary goals are to enable large-scale, well-powered analyses of the safety and efficacy of DBS in the pediatric population and to further explore and refine DBS as a therapeutic option for children with dystonia and other hyperkinetic movement disorders. Given the current scarcity of evidence available to clinicians, this centralized multicenter repository of clinical data is critical for addressing key research questions and improving clinical practice for pediatric DBS.

Sleep-wake disturbances are a major factor associated with reduced quality of life of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurological disorder affecting millions of people in the U.S and worldwide. The brain mechanisms underlying these sleep disorders, and the effects of therapeutic interventions such as deep brain stimulation on sleep-related neuronal activity and sleep behavior, are not well understood. Results from this study will provide a better understanding of the brain circuitry involved in disordered sleep in PD and inform the development of targeted therapeutic interventions to treat sleep disorders in people with neurodegenerative disease.

In this study, the validity and reliability of the Hypertonia Assessment Tool (HAT), which has previously been validated in the pediatric cerebral palsy (CP) population, will be evaluated in adult individuals who have experienced a stroke. The HAT is a specific clinical instrument designed to differentiate subtypes of hypertonia, including spasticity, dystonia, and rigidity. Accurate classification of hypertonia subtypes following stroke is crucial for guiding rehabilitation strategies. However, the HAT has not yet been validated in the adult post-stroke population. This study will be conducted at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic of SBU Fatih Sultan Mehmet Training and Research Hospital. The study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the HAT for use in adults with stroke.

Low intensity focused ultrasound (LIFUS) has the potential to be used as a means of non-invasive neuro-modulation. To this day, the use of LIFUS is under investigation. Studies in healthy subjects have shown that application of LIFUS to the motor region of the brain can mildly decrease neuron excitability in healthy controls. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effects of LIFUS on brain tissue excitability in patients with movement disorders in order to elucidate the therapeutic potential of LIFUS.

The purpose of this international study is to evaluate long-term safety and effectiveness of Abbott deep brain stimulation (DBS) systems for all indications, including Parkinson's disease, essential tremor or other disabling tremor and dystonia.

This study aims to investigate whether preoperative gait characteristics, measured by wearable sensors, can predict the clinical outcomes of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in patients with dystonia. Participants scheduled for DBS surgery will undergo gait analysis using wearable sensors before the procedure. Clinical assessments, including the Burke-Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS) and the SF-36 Health Survey, will be conducted preoperatively and postoperatively to evaluate surgical efficacy and quality of life. The study seeks to identify gait biomarkers that correlate with optimal DBS response.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether local field potential (LFP) signals recorded from the globus pallidus interna (GPi) using the Medtronic Percept™ deep brain stimulation (DBS) device can help optimize DBS programming for people with dystonia. The study will also explore whether LFP patterns can serve as a biomarker of disease activity and predict treatment response. The main questions it aims to answer are: Do LFP peaks in the alpha-theta range reliably correlate with dystonia severity and clinical characteristics? Can LFP-based programming achieve similar or better clinical outcomes compared to traditional programming methods? How do LFP profiles change with stimulation and other treatments such as botulinum toxin or oral medications? Researchers will compare two programming approaches: Traditional programming based on clinical assessment and imaging. LFP-guided programming based on the site and characteristics of LFP peaks Participants will: Undergo DBS surgery for dystonia as part of standard clinical care. Attend regular follow-up visits for DBS programming and outcome assessments. Complete clinical rating scales for dystonia severity, quality of life, cognition, and mood. Take part in neurophysiological assessments, including surface EMG, EEG, and reaction time tasks. Have LFP recordings collected using the Medtronic Percept™ device during clinic visits and, where possible, at home using device sensing features. This study will help determine whether LFP analysis can shorten the time to optimal DBS settings and improve outcomes for people with dystonia.

This research involves retrospective and prospective studies for clinical validation of a DystoniaNet deep learning platform for the diagnosis of isolated dystonia.

The goals of this project are 1) to determine the incidence of neurological voice disorders in patients with dystonia and essential tremor undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS), 2) investigate the neuroimaging and intracranial neurophysiology correlates of voice dysfunction in these subjects, and subsequently 3) determine the effects of DBS on voice function.

Dystonia is a severe movement disorder involving increased muscular activity and can be very variable. To date, the treatment of dystonia is challenging. One effective therapy is deep brain stimulation (DBS), an invasive therapy, where stimulation electrodes are inserted in deep brain regions and a continuous electrical therapy is delivered via a pacemaker. However, the optimization of the therapy is a long process, up to months and there is no immediate adaptation to different disease states. This project aims to improve DBS therapy: The first aim is to learn more about electrical brain activity that could be the feedback signal for individualized therapy. Secondly, the investigators want to gather information about the long-term development of the signal and potential hints for optimal therapy locations that could be acutely used to accelerate therapy optimization. To date, recordings mainly in lab settings, have suggested low-frequency activity as a biomarker for dystonia. Biomarkers are signals that are changed with therapy and that reflect symptom severity. Further understanding of the low-frequency biomarker for dystonia and its applicability in everyday life is one of the objectives in this study. Therefore, using a pacemaker that can also record brain activity, biomarker activity will be recorded for 12 months. At the same time, development of clinical symptoms will be assessed using an application with weekly questionnaires on symptoms and a video diary. At monthly appointments for data saving, resting state as well as motor activity during a finger tapping task will be recorded to also assess the development of side-effects, such as stimulation-induced slowing, and their biomarkers.

The aim of this clinical trial is to determine whether deep brain stimulation (DBS) interventions improve rehabilitation and functional recovery in patients with post-stroke spasticity who meet the other inclusion criteria listed below. Primary question(s) to be answered: Is DBS stimulation effective in treating post-stroke spasticity? What stimulation frequency is most effective in treating post-stroke spasticity? Study participants will: * Undergo surgery to implant a DBS electrode targeting the DRTt (dentate-rubro-thalamic tract ) in close proximity of the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum ipsilateral to the spastic side of the body. * Each patient will then receive an initial stimulation frequency of 130 Hz (arm 1) and will be assigned to a 4- to 6-week rehabilitation program. After this period, the participant will return for a follow-up visit for a clinical evaluation. * The frequency will then be changed to 70Hz (arm 2). Patients who have undergone this change will also undergo a rehabilitation period of 4 to 6 weeks. After this period, they will return to the Clinic for a follow-up evaluation. * The frequency will then be changed to 30Hz (arm 3). Patients who have undergone this change will also undergo a rehabilitation period of 4 to 6 weeks. Researchers will compare the results obtained from patients in each arm to determine the clinical effects of stimulation and whether they are dependent on the stimulation frequency.

The goal of this observational study is to learn about functional neurological disorders in patients with common non-functional movement disorders ("functional overlay"). The main questions it aims to answer are: * What is the frequency of functional neurological disorders in patients with non-functional movement disorders (functional overlay)? * What are the characteristics of functional neurological disorders in patients with non-functional movement disorders? Participants will be examined clinically and electrophysiologically, the examinations consist of: * a neurological examination * neuropsychological testing * electrophysiological tremor diagnostic * questionnaires about psychological, biological and social risk factors Researchers will compare patients with functional motor disorders to patients wit non-functional movement disorders to see if they differ from each other regarding the functional symptoms.

The NIH grant has funded the development of a physiological brain atlas registry that will allow us to significantly improve the data collectioin and use of physiological data into a normalized brain volume. This initially was used to improve DBS implants for Parkinson's Disease, Dystonia, Essential Tremor, and OCD, but now includes data acquired during all stereotactic brain procedures.

The purpose of this research study is to investigate how the brain and motor behavior changes in individuals with dystonia in response to exercise training.