Northwell Health
By tracking resting-state fMRI scans, we aim to discover how repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) changes brain connectivity in individuals with dystonia.
Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder characterized by spontaneous involuntary muscle contractions that cause repetitive twisting motions. These involuntary movements affect various body regions, including the face (blepharospasm), jaw (bruxism, oromandibular dystonia), head and neck (torticollis), voice box (laryngeal spasm), hands (writer's cramp), or as multiple body segments simultaneously. Dystonia lacks defining neuropathological change, making diagnosis challenging, and rendering symptom management incomplete. Advanced imaging techniques, particularly spatial covariance analysis…
Inclusion Criteria: * Male or female * 18 and 80 years of age. * Patients who manifest dystonia - sustained involuntary movement of the head, neck, trunk or limbs. * The dystonia may be spontaneous or genetic, specifically DYT1 or DYT6 and then only those patients who are demonstrating dystonia. The patient/subject will have a normal neurological exam except for dystonia. Exclusion Criteria: * Heredodegenrative dystonia of the type DYT8,9 or 10. * Past history of head trauma, stroke, epilepsy, demyelinating disease * Hypertension in excess of 160mmHg systolic and 90mmHg diastolic * Congesti…
Continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS), a modified form of rTMS that mimics natural brain rhythms (theta 4-8Hz), can effectively inhibit the cortical hyperactivity in targeted hubs with shorter treatment times than traditional approaches. The rationale for this proposed pilot experiment is to combine advanced analysis of standard neuroimaging to refine target location for a test of whether the application of non-invasive rTMS (in the form of cTBS) modulates abnormal cortical regions or the entire brain network, or both, as these networks underlie dystonia. This pilot study will provide the basis for a controlled study to test the effectiveness and robustness of any positive influence that TMS might have on the patients' dystonia.
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