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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02905877

The Pathophysiology of Functional Neurological Disorders

Functional disorders, also called psychogenic or psychosomatic are very common, disabling and their costs to society are immense.

Functional movement disorders are abnormal, involuntary movements, that are illogical in terms of classic neurology. Intriguingly, they typically manifest when patients pay attention to them and disappear with distraction.

The investigators aim to further the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying functional neurological disorders in order to improve treatment. In particular they aim to understand the effect of attention on movement in general, on functional neurological mechanisms and on the sense of agency (of subjective control) over a movement.

Patients with a functional neurological disorder, patients with an organic neurological disorder and healthy participants will perform simple tasks, such as reaching to a target, while additional tasks will manipulate their attention. The effects of these attentional manipulations will be analysed on several levels: movement performance, analysed by the kinematics and electromyography (EMG),and psychophysical measures, such as the sense of agency.

If the hypothesis turns out to be true, then changing the attentional focus could be used as a treatment in functional neurological disorders.

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Key information

Conditions

Functional Neurological Disorders Conversion Disorder Mental Disorders Somatoform Disorders

Age range

18 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Institute of Neurology, University College London

London, WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • We will recruit three groups of participants:
  • functional neurological disorders, e.g. functional tremor: diagnosed by a neurologist.
  • organic counterpart of the functional neurological disorders, e.g. in the case of functional tremor, the organic counterpart would be organic tremor: presence of an organic tremor according to internationally recognised guidelines and diagnosed by a neurologist.
  • healthy age-matched controls.

Exclusion criteria

  • Healthy Participants: Major neurological disorder.

All groups:

  • Age under 18 or over 80
  • Significant impairment in ability to give informed consent for study procedures due to significant cognitive impairment and/or inability to understand study literature,
  • very severe tremor
  • moderate or severe cognitive impairment

Treatment and study plan

Behavioural study

Other

reaching studies and other behavioural studies.

Primary outcomes

  1. Tremor severity, assessed by kinematics, under different attentional conditions

    Time frame: 1 year

Secondary outcomes

  1. Sense of agency, assessed by intentional binding, under different attentional conditions

    Time frame: 1 year

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University College, London

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Sep 19, 2016
Registry last updated
Mar 27, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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