Clinical Research Directory

A Longitudinal Natural History Study of Immune Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatric Illness

Background: Some brain or mental health conditions may be caused when a person s immune system attacks their own body. These are called immunologic neuropsychiatric disorders. In this natural history study, researchers want to see if they can find substances in the blood that can help them identify people with this kind of brain or mental illness. What they learn may help them find better ways to diagnose and treat these conditions in the future. Objective: To collect blood samples from people with a brain or mental illness that may be related to their immune system. Eligibility: People ages 1 month or older with a brain or mental illness that may be related to their immune system. Design: Participants will have 1 visit. This visit may be in person or by telehealth. They will answer a questionnaire about their health. They may have blood drawn for testing; this blood sample may also be taken at another medical facility and sent to the researchers. Researchers will look at the participant s medical records and images over time. Researchers will also collect leftover blood or other tissue samples that are taken in the course of a participant s routine health care. Participants may opt to have more visits. These visits will be every 3 to 12 months for up to 5 years. They will be asked about changes in their health since their last visit. They may opt to have blood drawn for research.

Magnetoencephalography in Children

This study is a single-center observational clinical study, which evaluates the diagnostic value of magnetoencephalography (MEG) in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental diseases in children, such as the localization of epileptic foci and brain functional areas, intracranial tumors, cerebrovascular diseases, autism, mental retardation, and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Reference Measurements of the Neuronal Integration Window and Anatomical and Functional MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Our studies on MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) biomarkers in neuropsychiatric disorders rely on reference data from control subjects which are dependent from our scanner. Due to the upcoming replacement of our MR scanner, the investigators need to 'recalibrate' our current database by acquiring the same data on both the old and the new device from a small group of controls (n = 36 to 40). This will be combined with measures of cortical excitability using robotized TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) that will be combined to MRI biomarkers in forthcoming studies. Therefore, the primary objective of this biomedical trial is to collect MRI and physiological measurements in normal subjects whose characteristics match to our study populations.