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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Electrical Stimulation of Nerves to Study Focal Dystonia

NCT00050024 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 38

Last updated 2017-07-02

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This study will use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electrical stimulation of nerves to examine how the brain controls muscle movement in focal hand dystonia (writer's cramp). Normally, when a person moves a finger, the brain's motor cortex prevents the other fingers from moving involuntarily. Patients with focal hand dystonia have difficulty with individualized finger movements, possibly due to increased excitability of the motor cortex. Musicians, writers, typists, athletes and others whose work involves frequent repetitive movements may develop focal dystonia of the hand.

Healthy normal volunteers and patients with focal dystonia 18 years of age and older may be eligible for this study.

For the TMS procedure, subjects are seated in a comfortable chair with their hands placed on a pillow on their lap. An insulated wire coil is placed on the scalp. A brief electrical current is passed through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the brain. This may cause muscle, hand or arm twitching if the coil is near the part of the brain that controls movement, or it may induce twitches or transient tingling in the forearm, head or face muscles. Subjects will be asked to move a finger. Just before this movement, a brief electrical stimulation will be applied to the end of either the second or fifth finger. Metal electrodes will be taped to the skin over the muscle for computer recording of the electrical activity of the hand and arm muscles activated by the stimulation. The testing will last 2-3 hours.

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Conditions

  • Dystonic Disorders

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

    lead NIH

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2002-11-13
Completion
2008-09-17

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00050024 on ClinicalTrials.gov