The purpose of this study is to better understand Functional Neurological Disorders (FND) by measuring movement timing and brain activity in patients with FND during deliberate movements and when expressing an 'intention' to move. This investigation will use non-invasive brain stimulation to investigate the role of the temporal-occipital-parietal junction in FND.
This study seeks to improve our neurophysiological understanding of Functional Neurological Disorders (FND) by measuring movement timing and brain activity while individuals with FND perform a simple pointing task. Behavioural (timing of arm and finger movement) and electrophysiological (electroencephalography; EEG) measures will be collected both at rest and while participants perform a voluntary movement task designed to discriminate between brain events related to intention vs. overt action. Furthermore, this study will investigate the ability of a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to alter brain activity in the temporal-occipital-parietal junction (TPJ), a region known to be hypo-active in individuals with FND. Tasks and cortical recordings will be repeated following rTMS to determine the effect of brain stimulation on behaviour and brain activity.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
19
A non-invasive method of brain stimulation
St. Boniface Hospital
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Change in relative timing of intention-to-act vs action production
Assessment of change in the lag time between intended and actual action production during pointing and stimulus response tasks.
Time frame: 1 hour: Immediately prior to and following one session of rTMS
Change in resting state activity in temporal-parietal junction brain region
Assessment of changes in EEG brain activity readings when participants are at rest at various frequencies, primarily targeting delta/theta bands.
Time frame: 1 hour: Immediately prior to and following one session of rTMS
Change in brain activity related to 'intention to act'
Assessment of changes in ERP waveform amplitude related to the 'intention to act' time-stamp during the movement task.
Time frame: 1 hour: Immediately prior to and following one session of rTMS
Change in brain activity related to motor production
Assessment of changes in ERP waveform amplitude related to the 'motor production' time-stamp during the movement task.
Time frame: 1 hour: Immediately prior to and following one session of rTMS
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