---
title: Brain stimulation reduces persistent stiffness
nct_id: NCT05656586
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: University of Minnesota
study_type: OBSERVATIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05656586"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05656586"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:07:13.516Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Brain stimulation reduces persistent stiffness

**Goal (in five words):** Brain stimulation reduces persistent stiffness

**Official Title:** Mechanisms and Effects of Pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation on Levodopa Resistant Motor Signs in Parkinson's Disease; Udall Project 2 Aim 2A&C

**Trial ID:** [NCT05656586](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05656586)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** OBSERVATIONAL
- **Sponsor:** University of Minnesota
- **Target Enrollment:** 36 participants
- **Start Date:** 2023-01-01
- **Completion Date:** 2027-03-01
- **Conditions:** Parkinson Disease
- **Interventions:** observational-- no intervention
- **Intervention Types:** OTHER

## Summary For Families

The goal is to understand how stimulation of the globus pallidus internus helps movement problems in Parkinson's that do not respond well to levodopa, like persistent rigidity or dystonia. The team will observe people already implanted with the Medtronic Percept DBS system, recording brain signals and motor performance during lab tasks and, when the device is set to sense, during at-home monitoring to link GPi activity patterns with changes in movement. Pallidal DBS delivers controlled electrical pulses to the GPi to normalize abnormal firing patterns, which can reduce involuntary movements or stiffness, and it is used alongside levodopa rather than replacing it. Participants must have GPi DBS with a Percept device activated at least three months, be able to consent and perform the motor tasks, and are excluded for dementia, major musculoskeletal or other neurologic disorders, post-op complications that affect safety, or incompatible DBS settings for the at-home portion.

## Eligibility

- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Receiving DBS therapy in GP for treatment of PD
* Implanted with Medtronic Percept DBS system
* At least 3 months since initial activation of the neurostimulator
* For the "At Home" experiment only: participants with DBS settings that are sensing compatible.

Exclusion Criteria:

* history of musculoskeletal disorders that significantly affects the ability to perform the motor tasks in the specific experiment in question
* history of dementia or cognitive impairment
* other significant neurological disorder as determined by the PI
* post-operative complications or adverse effects (e.g. ON stimulation dystonias) that affect patient safety or confound the experiment
* lack of capacity to consent (as identified by MaCAT-CR)
```

## Locations (1)

- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States _(44.9800, -93.2638)_
  - Johanna Caskey — (CONTACT) — 763-353-9470 — caske039@umn.edu

## Central Contacts

- Colum Mackinnon, PhD — (CONTACT) — 612-625-8938 — cmackinn@umn.edu

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05656586*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT05656586*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05656586*