View clinical trials related to Focal Dystonia.
Filter by:This study will examine how the brain operates during execution and control of voluntary movement and what goes wrong with these processes in disease. It will use electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) to compare brain function in normal subjects and in patients with focal hand dystonia. In dystonia, involuntary muscle movements, or spasms, cause uncontrolled twisting and repetitive movement or abnormal postures. Focal dystonia involves just one region of the body, such as the hand, neck or face. EEG measures the electrical activity of the brain. The activity is recorded using wire electrodes attached to the scalp or mounted on a Lycra cap placed on the head. EMG measures electrical activity from muscles. It uses wire electrodes placed on the skin over the muscles. Adult healthy normal volunteers and patients with focal hand dystonia may be eligible for this study. Patients will be selected from NINDS's dystonia patient database. Participants will sit in a semi-reclining chair in a darkened room and be asked to move either their right index finger, right foot, or the angle of their mouth on the right side at a rate of one movement every 10 seconds. Brain and muscle activity will be measured during this task with EEG and EMG recordings.
This study will evaluate the effect of motor training on focal hand dystonia in people with writer's cramp and will examine whether this training affects excitability of the motor cortex of the brain. In dystonia, muscle spasms cause uncontrolled twisting and repetitive movement or abnormal postures. Focal dystonia involves just one part of the body, such as the hand, neck or face. Patients with focal hand dystonia have difficulty with individualized finger movements, which may be due to increased excitability of the motor cortex. Patients with hand dystonia 21 years of age or older may be eligible for this 2-month study. Those taking botulinum toxin injections must stop medication 3 months before entering the study. Participants will undergo a complete neurologic examination. They will undergo motor training with "constraint-induced movement therapy." This therapy involves constraining some fingers while allowing others to move. Participants will have the following tests and procedures at baseline (before motor training), after 4 weeks of motor training, and again after 8 weeks: - Handwriting analysis - A computerized program evaluates the degree of "automatic movements" the patient uses in writing, as well as writing pressure and speed. - Symptoms evaluation - Patients fill out a written questionnaire about symptoms and rate their improvement, if any, after training. - Transcranial magnetic stimulation - The patient is seated in a comfortable chair, and an insulated wire coil is placed on the scalp. Brief electrical currents pass through the coil, creating magnetic pulses that travel to the brain. These pulses generate very small electrical currents in the brain cortex, briefly disrupting the function of the brain cells in the stimulated area. The stimulation may cause muscle twitching or tingling in the scalp, face, arm or hand. During the stimulation, the patient is asked to slightly tense certain muscles in the hand or arm or perform simple actions. Electrodes are taped to the skin over the muscles activated by the stimulation, and the electrical activity in the muscles will be recorded with a computer. - Electroencephalogram (EEG) - Wire electrodes are taped to the scalp or placed on a Lycra cap the patient wears to record the brain's electrical activity. Participants will have 50-minute motor training sessions 3 times during the first week of the study, twice the second week and once each in weeks 3 and 4. In addition, they will be required to practice the training at home for 25 minutes each day during week 1 and 50 minutes each day for the remaining 3 weeks. Fingers not being trained will be splinted.
Objective: To determine if the calcium channel blockers, amlodipine can augment the effect of botulinum toxin injections in the treatment of focal dystonia. Study Population: 20 patients with cervical dystonia Design: Double-bind, placebo-controlled clinical trail. Outcome measures: For patients: dystonia rating scales (Twistrs, Fahn-Marsden dystonia scale, NINDS subjective patient rating scale), and hand grip strength. For healthy volunteers: Amplitude of EDB MEP.