---
title: Improve cognition through caudate stimulation
nct_id: NCT04715984
phase: NA
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT04715984"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04715984"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:07:48.845Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Improve cognition through caudate stimulation

**Goal (in five words):** Improve cognition through caudate stimulation

**Official Title:** Corticostriatal Neurophysiology in Parkinson's Disease Cognitive Impairment

**Trial ID:** [NCT04715984](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04715984)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** NA
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Vanderbilt University Medical Center
- **Target Enrollment:** 75 participants
- **Start Date:** 2021-06-02
- **Completion Date:** 2029-08
- **Conditions:** Parkinson Disease
- **Interventions:** Neurophysiology recordings, Neural stimulation
- **Intervention Types:** OTHER

## Summary For Families

The team wants to map how communication between the cortex and the caudate contributes to the thinking and memory problems some people with Parkinson's experience. During awake deep brain stimulation surgery at Vanderbilt, researchers will record electrical activity from the caudate and nearby cortex and deliver brief, controlled stimulation through the planned DBS electrode while you do simple cognitive tests, to see how those circuits respond. They are enrolling adults 40 and older with Parkinson's who are scheduled for DBS under local anesthesia with a clinical electrode trajectory that contacts the caudate, and who can participate in intraoperative testing and speak English. People under 40, those who cannot follow instructions during surgery, or those with a different movement disorder are not eligible.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 40 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion criteria:

* Scheduled to undergo deep brain stimulation surgery under local anesthesia at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
* Planned clinical electrode trajectory that contacts caudate
* Age greater than or equal to 40
* Diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
* Able to participate in intraoperative testing
* English speaking

Exclusion criteria:

* Age less than 40
* Not able to participate in intraoperative testing (for example unable to comprehend instructions or follow directions)
* Movement disorder other than Parkinson's disease
```

## Locations (1)

- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States _(36.1659, -86.7844)_
  - Isabel Long, BS — (CONTACT) — 615-421-3046 — isabel.long@vumc.org
  - Sarah Bick, MD — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

## Central Contacts

- Isabel Long, BS — (CONTACT) — 615-421-3046 — isabel.long@vumc.org
- Sarah Bick, MD — (CONTACT) — 615-343-9822 — Sarah.Bick@vumc.org

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT04715984*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT04715984*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04715984*