---
title: Improve speech sequencing using stimulation
nct_id: NCT07455760
phase: NA
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT07455760"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07455760"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:06:45.916Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Improve speech sequencing using stimulation

**Goal (in five words):** Improve speech sequencing using stimulation

**Official Title:** Investigating Subcortical Contributions to Speech Sequencing in Deep Brain Stimulator Recipients

**Trial ID:** [NCT07455760](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07455760)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** NA
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Boston University Charles River Campus
- **Target Enrollment:** 80 participants
- **Start Date:** 2026-02-18
- **Completion Date:** 2030-08
- **Conditions:** Parkinson's Disease (PD), Essential Tremor
- **Interventions:** Phoneme sequence learning, Cessation and re-enabling of stimulation of the STN, Cessation and re-enabling of stimulation of the VIM thalamic nucleus, Multisyllabic sequence learning
- **Intervention Types:** BEHAVIORAL, OTHER

## Summary For Families

The goal is to figure out how the subthalamic and thalamic targets of deep brain stimulation help sequence sounds and syllables, so we can better understand why some people have speech problems with Parkinson's or essential tremor. Participants do phoneme and multisyllabic sequence learning tasks while researchers briefly stop and then re-enable stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus for Parkinson's or the ventral intermediate thalamus for essential tremor, and they record brain activity from Medtronic Percept implantable devices to link stimulation state with speech performance. Briefly stopping stimulation reduces the modulatory input those targets provide, which reveals their role in speech sequencing, and the study does not change your medication regimen. Eligible volunteers are native American English speakers age 18 or older with clinically established Parkinson's disease or essential tremor, stable meds and DBS settings for at least a month, a working STN or VIM DBS system with a Medtronic Percept PC or RC for sensing, intact hearing and cognition (MoCA ≥25), and the ability to tolerate short periods with DBS off; a few language backgrounds are excluded from one sub-study.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Native speakers of American English
* Adults at least 18 years of age
* A clinically established diagnosis of Parkinson's disease or essential tremor
* Able to provide informed consent in the judgment of the investigator
* Treated with deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (Parkinson's disease) or ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus (essential tremor)
* Stable Parkinson's disease or essential tremor medication regimen for at least one month
* Stable DBS program settings for at least one month
* Nominal DBS system function, including normal impedances at therapeutic DBS contacts, and adequate battery life or adequate IPG charging status for therapy
* For DBS sensing, implanted with Medtronic Percept PC or Percept RC implantable pulse generator
* Corrected vision adequate to easily read text presented during speech motor task

Exclusion Criteria:

* Cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; Nesreddine et al., 2005) score \< 25) or active psychotic or behavioral symptoms that would, in the judgment of the investigator, preclude proper participation in the study
* Hearing impairment that interferes with accurate perception of the speech motor learning stimulus (25dB hearing level threshold at 500, 1k, 2k, and 4kHz frequencies)
* Language impairment (aphasia) or speech articulation impairment (dysarthria) that precludes performance of the speech motor learning task
* Neurological disorder that interferes with speech motor learning
* Inability to tolerate symptoms when DBS is off
* Orthodontia or atypical oral structure (e.g., cleft palate) that interferes with speech
* Pregnancy
* For participants in the sub-syllabic sequence learning study (Study C.2.1), experience with the following languages: Hebrew, Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Georgian, Tepehua, Hungarian, and Pima
```

## Locations (2)

- Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States _(42.3584, -71.0598)_
  - Frank H Guenther, Ph.D. — (CONTACT) — 617-353-5765 — guenther@bu.edu
  - Barbara G Holland, MA — (CONTACT) — bobbieh@bu.edu
  - Frank H Guenther, Ph.D. — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Alfonso Nieto-Castanon, Ph.D. — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Andrew Meier, Ph.D. — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States _(42.3584, -71.0598)_
  - Todd Herrington, MD, PHD — (CONTACT) — 6177265532 — therrington@mgh.harvard.edu
  - Zeyang Yu, PHD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Robert Richardson, MD, PHD — (SUB_INVESTIGATOR)
  - Todd Herrington, MD, PHD — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

## Central Contacts

- Frank H Guenther, Ph.D. — (CONTACT) — 617-353-5765 — guenther@bu.edu
- Barbara G Holland, MA — (CONTACT) — 617-353-6181 — bobbieh@bu.edu

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT07455760*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT07455760*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07455760*