Clinical Research Directory

Neuro-Emotional Release: Veins and Endocrine System (NERVE) Therapy for Children With Dysautonomia

To investigate the feasibility of implementing an online assessment battery in tandem with normal \& customary complementary \& integrative healthcare (CIH) provided to children with dysautonomia. The secondary aim is to assess the potential impacts of CIH on clinical outcomes.

Data Collection of Standard Care of Patients in the EMG Section

Background: Most people who are referred to the EMG (Electromyography) Section of the NIH are enrolled into specific active studies. This allows researchers to learn about a range of rare neuromuscular disorders. But study criteria may not give researchers the chance to evaluate a single person or study a common symptom. Therefore, researchers want to assess people with neuromuscular disorders who are not currently enrolled in any NIH studies. They will perform tests on these individuals in the EMG Lab. Then they will create a repository of data that may be used for future research. This will help them learn more about these disorders. Objective: To retain data that is collected as part of participant visits to the NIH. Eligibility: People aged 18 and older who will be visiting the NIH for evaluation of their neuromuscular disorder. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical record review. Participants will have a physical exam. They will be evaluated for their neuromuscular disorder. They may have tests to learn more about how their nerves and muscles work that are called nerve conduction and EMG studies. Their muscles and nerves may be assessed with an ultrasound. Their ability to sweat may be measured. Their heart rate and blood pressure may be taken. Changes to their breathing or changes in their body position may be measured. Participant data will be given a unique numerical identifier that can be used if the data is shared. Data will be stored on a server and in a database. Participants will have 1-2 visits. Each visit will last less than 4 hours. They may be contacted for a follow-up visit.

Personalized Brain Stimulation to Treat Chronic Concussive Symptoms

The goal of this study is to investigate a new treatment for chronic symptoms after concussion or mild traumatic brain injury in people aged 18-65 years old. Chronic symptoms could include dizziness, headache, fatigue, brain fog, memory difficulty, sleep disruption, irritability, or anxiety that occurred or worsened after the injury. These symptoms can interfere with daily functioning, causing difficulty returning to physical activity, work, or school. Previous concussion therapies have not been personalized nor involved direct treatments to the brain itself. The treatment being tested in the present study is a noninvasive, personalized form of brain stimulation, called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The investigators intend to answer the questions: 1. Does personalized TMS improve brain connectivity after concussion? 2. Does personalized TMS improve avoidance behaviors and chronic concussive symptoms? 3. Do the improvements last up to 2 months post-treatment? 4. Are there predictors of treatment response, or who might respond the best? Participants will undergo 14 total visits to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA): 1. One for the baseline symptom assessments and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 2. Ten for TMS administration 3. Three for post-treatment symptom assessments and MRIs Participants will have a 66% chance of being assigned to an active TMS group and 33% chance of being assigned to a sham, or inactive, TMS group. The difference is that the active TMS is more likely to cause functional changes in the brain than the inactive TMS.

Non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain affects an estimated 20-33% of the global population and is frequently associated with autonomic nervous system dysfunction, characterised by symptoms such as orthostatic intolerance, palpitations, gastrointestinal dysmotility, and fatigue. Conventional treatments often fail to address this autonomic component, limiting their effectiveness. This pilot study investigates whether non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) using the gammaCore Sapphire device can reduce autonomic symptom severity and improve pain in adults with chronic MSK pain and confirmed autonomic dysfunction. RESTORE-MSK is a randomised, single-blind, sham-controlled, crossover pilot study. Twelve participants with chronic MSK pain (lasting 12 weeks or longer) and autonomic dysfunction (COMPASS-31 score of 17 or more) will be recruited from musculoskeletal clinics at Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive either active nVNS or sham stimulation first, followed by a 2-week washout period, then crossover to the alternative treatment. Each treatment period lasts 14 days, with participants self-administering the device twice daily (morning and evening). The primary outcome is change in autonomic symptom severity measured by the Composite Autonomic Symptom Score-31 (COMPASS-31). Secondary outcomes include physiological response to the NASA Lean Test, pain severity and interference (Brief Pain Inventory), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), intervention acceptability, and recruitment feasibility. This pilot study aims to establish feasibility and proof of concept for a larger randomised controlled trial investigating nVNS as a non-pharmacological treatment option for chronic MSK pain with autonomic dysfunction.

Autonomic Reactivity and Personalized Neurostimulation

Disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) affect up to 25% of U.S. children. Patients often suffer from disabling, multisystem comorbidities that suggest a common root (sleep disturbances, fatigue, anxiety, etc). Yet, DGBI are defined and treated based on GI symptom origin (cyclic vomiting, dyspepsia, irritable bowel) rather than underlying pathophysiology. Many patients manifest comorbidities suggesting an underlying autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation (palpitations, dizziness, cognitive dysfunction). Unfortunately, due to common features of anxiety and visceral hyperreactivity and lack of obvious pathology, children with DGBI are frequently diagnosed with psychosomatic or 'benign, functional disorders' and treated with empiric antidepressants despite lack of scientific support and risks of serious side effects. Little is known about the underlying brain-gut mechanisms linking these comorbidities. A lack of targeted treatment options naturally follows the paucity of mechanistic data. A dysregulated ANS response circuit via brainstem nuclei is linked to visceral hypersensitivity. As the team's prior research has shown, ANS regulation can be non-invasively measured via several validated indices of cardiac vagal tone. Using the novel vagal efficiency (VE) metric, the investigators have demonstrated inefficient vagal regulation in cyclic vomiting syndrome and pain-related DGBI and that low VE predicts response to non-invasive, auricular percutaneous electrical nerve field stimulation (PENFS) therapy. PENFS targets brainstem vagal afferent pathways and, along with brain-gut interventions such as hypnotherapy, are the only therapies currently proven effective for pediatric DGBI. Individualizing neurostimulation based on sensory thresholds while assessing dynamic ANS reactivity offers a path towards personalized medicine using the most effective therapies to date. This proposal will test the feasibility of an ANS tracking software in assessing real-time, autonomic regulation and providing individualized neurostimulation in children with nausea/vomiting and ANS imbalance.

Pathophysiology of Dysautonomia and Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) in Post-viral Syndromes and COVID-19

This study aims to better understand the biological mechanisms underlying dysautonomia and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), including how these conditions may be related to COVID-19. Participants will attend a single research visit lasting approximately one hour, during which a blood sample will be collected for immune system and genetic analyses. Information from participants' medical records may also be reviewed to support the research. The knowledge gained from this study may help improve understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of dysautonomia in the future.

Unhide® Project: A Digital Health Platform to Collect Lifestyle Data for Brain Inflammation Research

The unhide® Project is a non-interventional, longitudinal research study designed to establish a secure data repository of demographic, health, and lifestyle information from individuals with brain inflammation and related neuroinflammatory conditions. Participants in the United States aged 2 years and older will provide self-reported health data, biometrics, and symptom diaries through the MyDataHelps™ app (branded as unhide® for this study). The goal is to create comprehensive longitudinal profiles to facilitate research into disease subtypes, causes, diagnostics, and potential treatments, as well as to identify potential participants for future optional studies. "Healthy" individuals without brain inflammation are also eligible to participate. The digital health research platform used in this study was originally developed and designed by Solve M.E and was called SolveTogether. The Brain Inflammation Collaborative (BIC) expanded upon Solve M.E.'s work to include related diagnoses, pediatric participants, enhance symptom tracking, and more. BIC and Solve M.E. combined Solve Together and unhide®, to create The unhide® Solve Together Unified Platform in 2025.

Blood Pressure Effects on Cognition and Brain Blood Flow in PD

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Besides causing symptoms that impair movement, PD also causes non-motor symptoms, such as problems thinking and orthostatic hypotension (OH), i.e., low blood pressure (BP) when standing. About one-third of people with PD have OH, which can cause sudden, temporary symptoms while upright, including lightheadedness, dizziness, and fainting. People with PD and OH can also experience problems thinking that happen only while upright and not while sitting - this can occur without other symptoms, such as feeling dizzy or faint. However, the level of low BP that can affect thinking remains unknown, and no guidelines exist for treating OH when it happens without symptoms. This is significant because OH could be a treatable risk factor for thinking problems in PD, but OH is often not treated if people do not report obvious symptoms. This project's goal is to determine how BP affects brain function in PD. The proposed experiments will measure BP and brain blood flow continuously in real-time using innovative wearable technology. Persons with PD with OH and without OH will undergo repeated cognitive tests while supine (lying down) and while upright. I will study the associations between BP, thinking abilities, and brain blood flow, and will compare groups with and without OH. These findings could be important because if a certain level of BP correlates with thinking abilities, then treating OH in PD may prevent thinking problems, which would improve health-related quality of life and reduce disability and healthcare costs.

The Long COVID-19 Wearable Device Study

To further characterize Long COVID-19 by collecting data from individuals who already own wearable devices or are provided with a wearable device along with basic and enhanced educational materials to determine if both can improve Long COVID-19 symptom management and post-exertional malaise.

Effects of Osteopathic Technique on Autonomic Nervous System Activity

Cranial osteopathic manipulation technique for brain and cranial nerve function, known as the fourth ventricle compression (CV4), has been recognized. Rib raising (RR), aimed at reducing rib restriction and conditions associated with sympathetic hypertonia, is also employed. This study aimed to assess, in about 109 healthy individuals, the effects of osteopathic techniques (CV4 and RR) on autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, as measured by heart rate variability (HRV).