View clinical trials related to Nervous System Diseases.
Filter by:The purpose of the study is to examine the safety of special eyewear and earphones that emit a visual and auditory stimulus in the gamma range (gamma flicker) in patients with Parkinson's disease for 1 hour per day and to assess the effects this stimulus has on reducing a walking problem referred to as freezing of gait (FOG) as well as on a specific spinal fluid chemical marker, amyloid. Based on previous animal studies this gamma stimulus has the potential as a novel, non-invasive, non-pharmacological approach, to remove amyloid from the brain. The investigators have found in a prior study, that amyloid levels are high in the spinal fluid of Parkinson's patients with FOG. Parkinson's disease (PD) patients often experience a complex gait disorder known as Freezing of Gait (FOG). FOG is characterized by brief arrests of stepping when initiating gait, turning, and walking straight and patients describe it as their feet being "glued" to the floor. FOG in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a considerable public health burden worldwide. It is a poorly understood gait symptom that has potentially grave consequences as FOG is intermittent and unpredictable in nature, a leading cause of falls with injury, and results in loss of independence. FOG is generally found to be associated with cognitive decline, particularly executive dysfunction which, in turn, has been associated with higher spinal fluid amyloid (Aβ42) levels in PD.
1) Characteristics of handwriting, gait, speech, eye movements, biological samples (blood, urine, stool, saliva, etc.), images, EEG, and other relevant markers in patients with Alzheimer's disease. (2) Characteristics of handwriting, gait, language, eye movement, biological samples (blood, urine, stool, saliva, etc.), imaging, EEG, and other relevant markers in patients with Parkinson's disease. (3) Characteristics of handwriting, gait, language, eye movement, biological samples (blood, urine, stool, saliva, etc.), images, EEG, and other relevant markers in patients with other neurological disorders. (4) Characteristics of handwriting, gait, language, eye movement, biological samples (blood, urine, stool, saliva, etc.), images, EEG and other relevant markers in elderly patients.
The study objective is to improve accuracy in the early detection of neurodevelopmental impairment, especially CP, by evaluating the timepoint (in weeks post term age) that the Prechtl GMA is most useful for prediction of neurodevelopmental impairment at two years of age in children with and without medical complexity. The study team plans to recruit 100 healthy, term-born infants and 250 infants at risk of developing CP for a total of 350 enrolled infants.
Cervical posture is vital for normal swallowing function. Changes in cervical posture during swallowing alter the bolus flow and swallowing kinematics through changes in gravity and oropharyngeal space. The hyoid bone does not articulate with any bone, so it requires adequate tension of the hyolaryngeal complex and proper cervical postural alignment to maintain its stabilization and position. Changes in cervical posture and stabilization can cause changes in hyoid bone position and kinematics through muscles and ligaments which may lead to decrease in hyoid elevation, loss of optimal strength of the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles due to disrupted length-tension relationship, and an increased risk of aspiration due to insufficient laryngeal elevation. Further, deterioration in cervical posture and decreased stabilization resulting from cervical muscle weakness or/both endurance could affect the control and strength of masticatory muscles, tongue muscles and suprahyoid - infrahyoid muscles, which are involved in swallowing function. Whereby DCF weakness gives rise to inadequate cervical stabilization, change in hyoid bone stabilization, alterations in suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscle function, and decreased laryngeal elevation may adversely affect the normal function of the swallowing related muscles. Thus, decreased cervical stabilization, which is often seen in neurological diseases, may be related to neurogenic dysphagia. Given the known changes in cervical stabilization as a consequence of neurologic injury, the additional impact on swallowing or a potentially already neurologically-disordered swallow is considered. Thus, loss of cervical stabilization may be one of the factors affecting dysphagia in patients with neurological diseases providing more information on all potential factors contributing to swallow impairment, potentially leading to more targeted and effective swallowing interventions. However, there is no study investigating the role of the DCF muscles in dysphagia. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to comparison of deep cervical flexor muscle strength and endurance in patients with and without neurogenic dysphagia.
The heart and brain are regulated by the autonomic nervous system. Control of these organs can be disrupted in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). This may affect their ability to regulate blood pressure during daily activities and process the high-level information. Previous studies show that high-intensity exercise induces better outcomes on heart and information processing ability in non-injured people compared to moderate-intensity exercise. However, it is unknown the effects of high-intensity exercise on heart and brain function in people with SCI. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of a single bout of high-intensity interval training on heart and brain function in this people with SCI compared to age- and sex-matched non-injured controls.
The use of home automation system may be useful in rehabilitation to collect data about the environment and the amount of therapy. Then, the data may be stored in a cloud and integrated with data collected during training provided by technological devices. The main goal of this longitudinal pilot study is to define the productivity of the rehabilitation room (i.e., HoSmartAI room) in the IRCCS San Camillo Hospital (Venice, Italy) service, where the investigators will install home automation sensors and treat patients with neurological disease using technological devices (e.g., robotic and virtual reality). The secondary goals are to define the patients' satisfaction, usability of the system and the clinical effect of treatments delivered with technological devices in the HoSmartAI room. The patient will be assessed to personalized the treatment based on their needs. The treatment will consist of 15 sessions (1h/day, 5day/week, 3 weeks). At the end of the study, the patients will be assessed to define any clinical improvements. Finally, the investigators will define the characteristics of the patients who will benefit from the rehabilitation provided in the HoSmartAI room.
The subject of the study focuses on commercial aircraft's cabins air quality, under conditions of both fume events and non-fume events. It also delves into the immediate and delayed repercussions of these events on the health of aviation crew members. The expological facet of this study is directed at the detection and quantification of organophosphorus compounds originating from engine oils. The epidemiological facet is geared towards the identification of potential neurological consequences.
The purpose of this study is to understand if cognitive behavioral therapy can improve pain-related thought patterns and pain-related impairment in adults with cerebral palsy.
The Epilepsy Learning Health System (ELHS) is a quality improvement and research network to improve outcomes for people with epilepsy. The ELHS is designed as a model of value-based chronic care for epilepsy as envisioned by the National Academies of Medicine Committee in their landmark reports "The Learning Health System" and "Epilepsy Across the Spectrum: Promoting Health and Understanding". The ELHS network is a collaboration among clinicians, patients and researchers that promotes the use of data for multiple purposes including one-on-one clinical care, population management, quality improvement and research. The ELHS Registry includes data on children and adults with epilepsy collected during the process of standard epilepsy care. These data are used to create population health reports and to track changes in outcomes over time. ELHS teams use quality improvement methods, such as Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, to continuously learn how to improve care.
Dystonias represent hyperkinetic movement disorders characterized by protracted muscle contractions, such as to cause torsional movements and anomalous postures in different parts of the body. Although they occur more often in a focal form (blepharospasm, oromandibular dystonia, cervical dystonia, laryngeal dystonia, attitudinal cramps of the limbs) than segmental (involvement of several contiguous muscle groups, e.g. facial muscles and neck muscles), they are nevertheless capable of significantly influencing the quality of life, with consequent social and health costs. Although described as a predominantly motor disorder, the presence of non-motor symptoms in dystonias associated with alteration of the fronto-striatal circuits is increasingly recognized. Neuroimaging studies have highlighted that the striatum and, more specifically, striatal dopamine, is involved in high cognitive processes such as attention, reward-based learning and decision making. Clinical conditions associated with cortico-striatal circuit dysfunction and abnormal meso-striatal or meso-cortical dopamine transmission also appear to influence temporal estimation, delay discounting, showing an impulsive preference for immediate rewards over delayed gratification. Based on these premises, the present project aims to evaluate the cognitive and affective aspects of dystonias, in line with neuroimaging research documenting structural and functional dysfunctions in the respective brain regions.