---
title: Improve ability to stop actions
nct_id: NCT06234995
phase: PHASE4
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Emory University
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06234995"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06234995"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:04:31.316Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Improve ability to stop actions

**Goal (in five words):** Improve ability to stop actions

**Official Title:** Cortical Electrophysiology of Response Inhibition in Parkinson's Disease

**Trial ID:** [NCT06234995](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06234995)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** PHASE4
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Emory University
- **Target Enrollment:** 80 participants
- **Start Date:** 2021-08-09
- **Completion Date:** 2026-07
- **Conditions:** Parkinson Disease
- **Interventions:** Levodopa, Clinical DBS Setting, Sham DBS, DBS Setting Maximizing Prefrontal Activation, DBS Setting Minimizing Prefrontal Activation
- **Intervention Types:** DRUG, DEVICE

## Summary For Families

The team wants to understand how prefrontal brain circuits control the ability to stop or inhibit actions in Parkinson's, and how medication and DBS change those signals. Participants have cortical electrophysiology recorded while on and off levodopa, and while deep brain stimulation is set to their clinical setting, turned off, or tuned to maximize or minimize prefrontal activation; levodopa replaces dopamine and can alter motor and cognitive control, DBS delivers timed electrical pulses to deep brain targets and can be adjusted to increase or decrease signals reaching the prefrontal cortex, and a sham DBS setting provides a control. They are recruiting people with idiopathic PD across three groups: mid-stage PD (Hoehn and Yahr 2 to 4) for non-surgical recordings, candidates for awake DBS surgery with a normal MRI, and people with a functioning DBS system, plus healthy controls age 45 to 75. Key exclusions include dementia, severe tremor or dyskinesia that would corrupt recordings, inability to safely hold medications or tolerate DBS changes, and major medical risks.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 45 Years
- **Maximum age:** 75 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria for Persons with Parkinson's Disease for Aim 1:

* diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD)
* Hoehn and Yahr (H\&Y) stage 2-4 (off medication)

Exclusion Criteria for Persons with Parkinson's Disease for Aim 1:

* severe tremor at rest or severe dyskinesia which would cause significant artifacts in electrophysiological signals
* inability to hold antiparkinsonian medications for research recordings
* dementia
* non-English speaker

Inclusion Criteria for Persons with Parkinson's Disease for Aim 2:

* diagnosis of idiopathic PD
* there is a clinical indication for DBS surgery
* normal preoperative MRI
* ability to tolerate microelectrode-guided neurosurgery in an awake state

Exclusion Criteria for Persons with Parkinson's Disease for Aim 2:

* presence of a coagulopathy
* uncontrolled hypertension
* heart disease
* other medical conditions considered to increase the patient's risk for surgical complications

Inclusion Criteria for Persons with Parkinson's Disease for Aim 3:

* diagnosis of idiopathic PD
* functioning DBS system

Exclusion Criteria for Persons with Parkinson's Disease for Aim 3:

* severe tremor at rest or severe dyskinesia which would cause significant artifacts in electrophysiological signals
* inability to hold antiparkinsonian medications for research recordings
* inability to tolerate temporary discontinuation of DBS therapy or alteration of stimulation settings for research purposes
* other medical conditions considered to increase the patient's risk for surgical complications

Inclusion Criteria for Healthy Controls:

* age 45-75

Exclusion Criteria for Healthy Controls:

* history of a neuropsychiatric disorder and/or treatment with psychotropic medications
* non-English speaker
```

## Locations (2)

- Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, United States _(33.7490, -84.3880)_
- Emory Brain Health Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States _(33.7490, -84.3880)_

## Central Contacts

- Jonna Seppa — (CONTACT) — 404-727-1509 — jonna.k.seppa@emory.edu
- Svjetlana Miocinovic, MD, PhD — (CONTACT) — 404-712-9065

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06234995*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06234995*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06234995*