Stimulating Specific Brain Areas (VOP/VIM) With Electricity to Improve Movement and Muscle Control

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH · Jul 8, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how electrical stimulation of specific areas deep in the brain can improve movement and muscle control in people with movement disorders like essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. The researchers are focusing on patients who are already scheduled to have a surgical procedure called deep brain stimulation (DBS), which involves placing small electrodes in the brain to help control symptoms. During the surgery, the team will also use temporary electrodes placed on the surface of the brain to better understand how the stimulation affects movement and speech. The goal is to learn more about how DBS works and how it might be improved to help patients move more easily.

People who might be eligible for this study include adults with essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease who are set to have DBS surgery at UPMC Presbyterian. For essential tremor patients, the study will focus on the arm that is less affected to compare how stimulation works on nearly normal movement. Parkinson’s patients with DBS targeting a specific brain area (STN) will also be included. Patients with a history of seizures or very severe tremors that make it hard to complete movement tasks won’t be able to join. Participants can expect to undergo the usual DBS surgery, with some additional testing during the operation using extra electrodes. Their insurance coverage for the standard surgery won’t be affected by joining the study.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Essential tremor patients who are scheduled to undergo deep brain stimulation surgery at UPMC Presbyterian with asymmetric essential tremor symptoms will be included, with the tested limb corresponding to the least affected arm to better approximate normal function. These patients are implanted bilaterally regardless of symptom laterality, as the natural history of essential tremor indicates eventual bilateral symptoms.
• • Parkinson's Disease patients who are scheduled to undergo deep brain stimulation surgery at UPMC Presbyterian with a history of Parkinson's Disease will also be recruited for intra-operative stimulation of their STN-targeted implants, to assess if VIM/VOP has high specificity for improving motor output.
• • Confirmation that subjects' terms of insurance coverage for their standard of care procedure will not be altered by study enrollment.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Patients will be excluded from the study if there is any seizure history, to avoid the increased epileptogenic risk of intraoperative stimulation.
• • Patients with significant bilateral tremor that precludes completion of motor tasks.