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Background: - Inflammation is how the body reacts to infection or injury. Infections or inflammation in the brain and nerves can be serious. There aren t always good tests to detect this. Researchers want to learn more about how diseases affect the brain and nerves to develop better tests and treatments. Objective: - To learn more about how inflammation and infections hurt the brain and nervous system. Eligibility: - People at least 2 years old with a diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of nervous system infection or inflammation. Design: * For some participants, a clinician outside of NIH will collect blood, tissue, and other samples. These will be sent to NIH and analyzed. * Other participants will have several visits to NIH. Children may not have all these tests. * Participants will have: * Medical history. * Physical and neurological exam. * Blood and urine samples collected. * Saliva collected. They will chew on a piece of sterile cotton for one minute. * Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The scanner is a metal cylinder in a strong magnetic field. Participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of the cylinder. Participants will get a contrast agent through an intravenous (IV) catheter during the MRI. A needle will be used to guide a thin plastic tube (catheter) into an arm vein. * Lumbar puncture. Skin will be numbed and a needle will be inserted into the space between the bones in the back. Fluid will be removed. * Some participants may have optional study procedures. These may include eye tests, memory and thinking testing, tests with electrodes on the head, or skin biopsy.
This study is designed to learn more about the natural history of inherited neurological disorders and the role of heredity in their development. It will examine the genetics, symptoms, disease progression, treatment, and psychological and behavioral impact of diseases in the following categories: hereditary peripheral neuropathies; hereditary myopathies; muscular dystrophies; hereditary motor neuron disorders; mitochondrial myopathies; hereditary neurocognitive disorders; inherited neurological disorders without known diagnosis; and others. Many of these diseases, which affect the brain, spinal cord, muscles, and nerves, are rare and poorly understood. Children and adults of all ages with various inherited neurological disorders may be eligible for this study. Participants will undergo a detailed medical and family history, and a family tree will be drawn. They will also have a physical and neurological examination that may include blood test and urine tests, an EEG (brain wave recordings), psychological tests, and speech and language and rehabilitation evaluations. A blood sample or skin biopsy may be taken for genetic testing. Depending on the individual patient s symptoms, imaging tests such as X-rays, CT or MRI scans and muscle and nerve testing may also be done. Information from this study may provide a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of these disorders, contributing to improved diagnosis, treatment, and genetic counseling, and perhaps leading to additional studies in these areas. ...
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether speed-dependent measures of gait can be identified in patients with neurological conditions that affect gait, particularly in subjects with parkinsonian disorders.
The purpose of this project is to assess the feasibility, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of using an accelerated, intermittent theta burst stimulation (a-iTBS-rTMS) protocol targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (l-dlPFC) for Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) or Seizure-Type Functional Neurologic Disorder (FND-seiz) in an open-label fashion. Following screening, consent, and enrollment, participants will receive 6-to-10 iTBS-rTMS sessions per day (i.e., theta burst; 600 pulses per session; 6000 pulses per day) over a 3-to-5 treatment days with a target of 30 total sessions (18,000 total pulses). TMS will be targeted to Beam F3 for comparison to the bulk of the literature and to most mimic replicable and clinical use. This proposed iTBS-rTMS protocol was chosen given its previously shown safety, tolerability, and effectiveness in other conditions, but also as it has the potential to shorten treatment to only 3 days, which investigators theorize will be more feasible for patients with FND-seiz. Feasibility will be measured as the percentage of participants who receive at least 20 treatment sessions within the 3-to-5-day window. Other than self-assessments used in the safety screening process or to monitor TMS benefits and risks, secondary subjective measures will assess previously investigated FND-seiz-specific outcomes, which will be obtained prior to intervention and 4-weeks post-intervention. In addition to monthly seizure frequency, this will include validated measures regarding stigma, health-related QOL, depression, PTSD, somatic symptoms, psychosocial functioning, psychological distress, and clinical and participant impression of improvement and satisfaction. Sub-analysis will further divide participants with mild to no depression and/or PTSD versus moderate to severe depression and/or PTSD to further assess how the TMS effects known to effect other highly comorbid disorders with FND-seiz, may indirectly affect FND-seiz outcomes.
The goal of this pilot randomized clinical trial is to learn if Neurobehavioral Therapy (NBT) works to treat motor functional neurological disorder (mFND) (also referred to as functional motor disorder). The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does NBT lower mFND symptoms? * Does NBT lower common co-occurring symptoms and improve functioning? Researchers will compare NBT to standard medical care (SMC). Participants will be randomized to receive either: * 12 weekly sessions of NBT, along with their SMC, * or continue receiving their SMC as provided by their treating clinicians. * all participants. regardless of group assignment, will complete a total of five in-clinic visits at the following time points: Baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 8 Months and 12 Months for self-report surveys to assess functional status, quality of life and mFND symptoms.
Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive tool that images the neurovascular structures of the eye by using near-infrared light. Previous literature has demonstrated the potential of OCTA as a screening tool in stroke, but its utility in other neurological illness such as intracranial hemorrhage is unclear. Hence, this pilot study will gather preliminary data to support future grant applications to investigate this area more fully by recruiting patients with neurological illness and healthy controls and comparing their OCTA imaging parameters.
The purpose of this study is to help providers develop an interdisciplinary treatment pathway for functional neurological disorder (FND) at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and will involve psychiatry, speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. The study will also help providers to evaluate the treatment pathway and publish results regarding the process and outcomes.
The purpose of this study is to ascertain the functional profiles of the immune cells within the gastrointestinal tract and to determine how these cells contribute to autoimmune and neurologic diseases.
This is an observational study to compare the utility of the novel aMRI approach in human brain to the standard of care imaging approach for diagnosing and assessing glioma. Tumor cells have altered metabolism compared to normal cells.This makes metabolic activity imaging useful for diagnosing and assessing neurological disease. However, current options for metabolic activity imaging are limited. Metabolic activity imaging is primarily conducted using positron emission tomography (PET) with a radioactive tracer called fludeoxyglucose F-18 (¹⁸FDG). A PET scan is a procedure in which a small amount of radioactive glucose (¹⁸FDG) is injected into a vein, and a scanner is used to make detailed, computerized pictures of areas inside the body where the glucose is taken up. PET imaging is very expensive and is usually much less available than other imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI uses radiofrequency waves and a strong magnetic field to provide clear and detailed pictures of internal organs and tissues. While MRI is more available than PET, it isn't as useful in evaluating metabolic activity. Unlike standard MRI, the aMRI approach uses new ways of analyzing MRI images that provides information about tumor cell metabolic activity. Via direct comparison with a standard metabolic imaging approach, ¹⁸FDG PET, this clinical trial will assess the validity of aMRI as a metabolic imaging approach for evaluating neurological disease in patients with glioma.
Approximately 5.3 million people live with a long-term disability resulting from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and between 5-8% of those older than 60 suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia (ADRD). Consequences of these conditions can result in dramatic and persistent changes in functioning, impacting not only the patients, but also loved ones who become informal support persons. Many existing services help the family in the moment, but do not address long-term wellness. Thus, the purpose of this research study is to compare the effect of two different types of group wellness treatments for individuals with chronic mild TBI, moderate to severe TBI, and ADRD and their support persons.