A study of the Vibration-Induced illusion of movement in dystonia.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study of the Vibration-Induced illusion of movement in dystonia.
IRAS ID
195959
Contact name
Richard Grünewald
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Idiopathic focal dystonia is a neurological disorder that produces more or less fixed abnormalities of posture, sometimes associated with tremor. It develops in about 1 in 3000 individuals, usually after adolescence, but in particular subgroups, such as musicians, may be considerably more prevalent (about 1 in 500 individuals) indicating that the underlying predisposition may be much more common and that fatiguing or repetitive movements may precipitate it. Previous studies in this Department have demonstrated that abnormalities of the physical properties of muscle spindles may underlie the pathophysiology of idiopathic focal dystonia (for review see reference 3). This is based on the observation that the vibration-induced illusion of movement (VIIM) is abnormal in dystonic subjects. The VIIM therefore appears to be an endophenotype for the disorder.
Recently we have demonstrated that genetic abnormalities in the expression of a basement membrane anchorage protein (Laminin 1) may be responsible for the abnormal physical properties as it is significantly commoner in dystonic subjects compared with healthy control subjects.
This work will throw light on the validity of the underlying hypothesis of the pathophysiology of idiopathic focal dystonia.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0079
Date of REC Opinion
24 May 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion