• Hallucinations in Parkinson's Disease

  NCT04592965

  Unknown statusInterventionalNot ApplicableUpdated Oct 19, 2020
• Perception in Parkinson's Disease

  NCT05483036

  CompletedObservationalUpdated Sep 19, 2025
• Characterization and Progression of Minor Phenomena in Parkinson's Disease (PD)

  NCT05240339

  CompletedObservationalUpdated Mar 8, 2024
• Phenomenological and Psychopathological Factors Associated to Hallucinations in Parkinson's Disease

  NCT03105401

  TerminatedObservationalUpdated Jan 17, 2019
• Treatment of Hallucinosis/Psychosis in Parkinson's Disease by an Investigational Drug

  NCT00087542

  CompletedInterventionalPhase 2Updated Dec 7, 2005
• Neuroplasticity in Parkinson's Disease

  NCT05286736

  Active, not recruitingObservationalUpdated Jul 14, 2026

ClinicalTrials.gov ID

NCT04579887

Lead Sponsor

Olaf BlankeOTHER

Overall Status

Unknown status

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

Not Applicable

Enrollment

10Estimated

Last Update Posted

Oct 8, 2020Actual

Start Date

Aug 17, 2020Actual

Primary Completion Date

Jun 30, 2021Estimated

Completion Date

Jun 30, 2021Estimated

Official Title

Unravelling Dysfunctional Brain Networks in Patients With Parkinson's Disease Suffering From Presence Hallucination

Brief Summary

Investigation on how robotically mediated sensorimotor stimulation induces and triggers presence hallucinations in patients with Parkinson disease

Detailed Description

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is primarily known and characterized by motor symptoms such as tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia. However, a significant number of non-motor symptoms also accompany the unfolding of this disease. In fact, hallucinations are experienced by approximately 60% of the patients. The most common and amongst one of the earliest hallucinations in Parkinson's Disease, is the Presence Hallucination (PH), i.e., the strange sensation of perceiving someone behind when no one is actually there. In the present study the researchers aim at investigating the behavioural and neural mechanisms underlying symptomatic PH in PD. To do so the researchers intend to induce the PH in a repeated and controlled manner in the MRI scanner, with an extensively verified paradigm which gives rise to this sensation by means of robotically-mediated sensorimotor stimulation. This setup has in fact been shown to trigger the occurrence of symptomatic PH in these patients. The possibility to induce PH while the patient is in the MRI will allow the researchers to investigate online the brain networks associated with it.

With analysis on the fine brain connectivity changes during PH-induction, the investigators intend to pinpoint the exact mechanism behind the appearance of this hallucination in these patients, in a similar fashion to previous work with the PH-induction in healthy individuals.

• Parkinson Disease Psychosis

• Brain changes triggered by PH induction in Parkinson's disease patients with presence hallucinations

Ages Eligible for Study

Adult (18-64)Older Adult (65+)

Sexes Eligible for Study

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
• Able to understand instructions and provide informed consent.
• Native speaking language of experimental site (or acquisition of language of experimental site before 6 years old).
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (Nasreddine & Patel, 2016) with score ≥ 22.
• Able to manipulate the robotic device.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Neurological comorbidities other than Parkinson's disease (e.g. Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, multiple sclerosis, stroke, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, chronic migraine, etc.)
• History or current condition of substance abuse and/or dependence (e.g., alcohol, drugs).
• Suffering from or diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses according to DSM-V criteria (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, autism, personality disorders, phobia etc.).
• Family history (1st and 2nd degree) of psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia or bipolar disorders).
• Severe somatic illnesses (e.g., cancer).
• Severe tremors or physical disability preventing optimal use of robotic device.
• Participating in a pharmacological study.
• Local or general anaesthesia 30 days prior experiment
• Inability to provide informed consent (legal guardianship)
• The following are due to the MRI scanner: body weight exceeding 160kg, implanted metallic devices, foreign metallic objects, unstable angina, cardio-vascular diseases, tattoos with metallic components, external metallic objects, claustrophobia, pregnancy.

Primary Purpose

Basic Science

Allocation

N/A

Interventional Model

Single Group Assignment

Masking

None (Open Label)

Lead Sponsor

Olaf BlankeOTHER

Collaborators

University Hospital, GenevaOTHER

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire VaudoisOTHER

Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital BernOTHER

Hôpital du ValaisOTHER

pierre.burkhard@hcuge.ch+41 22 372 83 18