Brain implants could unlock secrets of voice disorders
NCT ID NCT05150093
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at how deep brain stimulation (DBS) — a treatment already used for movement disorders — affects voice and speech in people with laryngeal dystonia or voice tremor. Researchers will record brain signals during surgery and measure voice changes afterward. The goal is to learn more about how the brain controls voice, not to test a new treatment.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 120 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2022
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 80 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion 1. Clinical indications to proceed with DBS implantation, as determined by the clinical multidisciplinary movement disorders board, including: a) definitive diagnosis of essential tremor or dystonia, b) medically refractory disease, c) adequate performance on neuropsychological evaluation as determined by a licensed clinical neuropsychologist. 2. The ability to comply with test directions, complete pre-operative task training, and provide informed consent. 3. Age 18-80 years. Exclusion 1\. Inability to understand or perform the task outlined in the protocol during a pre-surgery training session. 2. Significant hearing loss. 3\. Cortical venous anatomy that could potentially obstruct ECoG electrode placement, as determined by the surgeon, visualized on pre-op MRI or during surgery.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Massachusetts General Hospital, University of California San Francisco, University of Utah
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- A tiny touch test aims to map lost sensation in the throat
- Reading the Brain's signals to predict who benefits from deep brain stimulation
- Hair-Thin electrodes tested to Fine-Tune brain stimulation
- Brain training through implanted electrodes aims to quiet Parkinson's tremors
- Can smarter imaging make ultrasound therapy for tremors more precise?
- Can new brain stimulation patterns quiet stubborn tremors?