How attention and eye movements affect emotion perception in Parkinson's disease
Investigating the Role of Attention in Perceptual and Cognitive Consequences of Parkinson's Disease
This project will test whether deep brain stimulation changes attention, eye movements, and how people with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, or dystonia perceive facial expressions.
Quick facts
| Phase | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Study type | Interventional |
| Enrollment | 138 (estimated) |
| Ages | 19 Years to 90 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | University of Nebraska Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Omaha, Nebraska) |
| Trial ID | NCT06899022 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this trial studies
This mixed observational and interventional protocol uses eye-tracking to record where participants look and how they judge facial emotions before and after receiving therapeutic DBS. Participants include adults with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, or dystonia who are scheduled for awake DBS implantation, plus age-matched healthy comparison participants. The study compares standard therapeutic DBS to reduced current and reduced frequency settings to see how different stimulation parameters affect attention, perception, and cognition. Findings will be compared across diagnostic groups and to healthy controls to clarify whether disrupted attention underlies altered emotion perception and whether DBS settings can be optimized to reduce these non-motor deficits.
Who should consider this trial
Good fit: Adults aged 19–90 with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, or dystonia who are scheduled for new awake DBS implantation and can perform computerized perceptual tasks are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People who are not receiving DBS, cannot complete eye-tracking or button/mouse response tasks, or have severe cognitive impairment are unlikely to receive direct benefit from participation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help personalize DBS settings to improve attention and emotion perception while keeping motor benefits intact.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has shown that DBS can alter emotion recognition and cognitive function, but applying eye-tracking to link attentional control and perceptual changes across PD, ET, and dystonia is relatively novel.
Eligibility criteria
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria * All Participants (Aim 1): * Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study * Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider * Age 19 - 90 years * DBS Participants (Aim 1): * Diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) or dystonia (DT). * Scheduled for new implantation of a therapeutic DBS device targeted to subthalamic nucleus (STN), ventral intermediate nucleus of thalamus (VIM) or internal globus pallidus (GPi) * Comparison Participants (Aim 1): o Selection by age matching to participants in PD group * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 2): * Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study * Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider * Age 19 - 90 years * Scheduled for awake DBS implantation with clinical micro-electrode recordings (MER) * Willing and able to engage in tasks during an awake surgical procedure * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 3): * Ability and willingness to provide signed informed consent for this study * Ability to express perceptual judgments through a button press or mouse- controlled computerized slider * Age 19 - 90 years * Willing to undergo acute manipulations of DBS * Able to tolerate acute changes of DBS Exclusion Criteria * All Participants (Aim 1): * Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements * DBS Participants (Aim 1): o Insufficient therapeutic control of motor symptoms to engage in tasks requiring button press or use of a mouse to control a slider * Healthy Comparison Participants (Aim 1): o History of neurodegenerative disorder * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 2): * Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements * Not undergoing awake DBS implantation * Uncorrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor (ET) and dystonia (DT) Participants (Aim 3): * Corrected visual acuity insufficient to perceptually judge face stimuli * Inability to understand task instructions or complete task requirements * Failure of DBS to achieve a therapeutic effect on motor symptoms
Where this trial is running
Omaha, Nebraska
- University of Nebraska Medical Center — Omaha, Nebraska, United States (Recruiting)
Study contacts
- Principal investigator: Christopher K Kovach, PhD — University of Nebraska
- Study coordinator: Christopher K Kovach, PhD
- Email: ckovach@unmc.edu
- Phone: 319-471-3372
How to participate
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
- Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.