Studying How Deep Brain Stimulation Affects Attention, Perception, and Cognition in Parkinsons Disease and Other Movement Disorders

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating how deep brain stimulation DBS affects attention, perception, and cognition in people with Parkinsons disease PD and other movement disorders like essential tremor ET and dystonia DT. The study aims to understand if attention problems in PD change how social cues are interpreted and whether DBS improves or worsens these difficulties. It also explores how DBS might be optimized to restore attention control while treating other symptoms and what brain areas targeted by DBS contribute to attention control. Participants are grouped into those with PD, ET, or DT undergoing DBS, and healthy controls without these disorders. The study includes tasks where participants view and rate facial expressions while their eye movements are tracked. DBS stimulation is altered acutely during the study in three randomized conditions normal therapeutic DBS, reduced current DBS, and reduced frequency DBS, each lasting about 20 minutes. Evaluations occur before DBS implantation, during awake DBS surgery, and after DBS initiation with changes in stimulation. Participants will be involved in facial emotion rating tasks and visual search tasks while eye tracking and brain activity recordings are performed. Assessments include facial expression ratings and eye tracking at baseline, intraoperative microrecordings during surgery, and follow-up after DBS optimization. Additional measures include EEG and local field potential recordings during emotional face viewing to study brain activity related to attention and perception. The study continues through approximately six months after DBS implantation, with thorough monitoring of cognitive and perceptual outcomes.

Attention and Eye Movement in Parkinson's Disease