Investigating neural and therapeutic effects of multi-focal transcranial direct current stimulation in laryngeal dystonia

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
F31DC024099
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$72,916

Award facts

Completion date 0% complete
Originally
Place of performance
Massachusetts, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract
Laryngeal dystonia (LD) is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary contractions of the vocal folds selectively during speech production, resulting in a strained-strangled and/or breathy voice quality with intermittent voice breaks. This chronic impairment to speech communication, a vital part of our daily existence, can have deeply pervasive impacts on quality of life for patients, often leading to social isolation, significant occupational disability, and psychiatric comorbidities. Despite the disorder's debilitating effects, the first choice of treatment for LD, repeated injections of botulinum toxin into the affected muscles, is largely limited to symptom management and provides only temporary relief for patients. Currently, an estimated 38% of LD patients do not receive any treatment, underscoring the urgent clinical need for next-generation therapeutic interventions informed by LD-specific symptomatology and pathophysiology for their most effective outcome. Through multimodal neuroimaging research, LD has been demonstrated to be a neural network disorder, with functional abnormalities involving sensorimotor and associative cortical regions as well as the basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum. Specifically, deficient functional connectivity in premotor and parietal regions has been shown to underlie disrupted information transfer within the sensorimotor network. Drawing upon these insights, the overall objective of this project is to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and central effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tdcs) designed to enhance functional connectivity within the sensorimotor network in LD patients. The central hypothesis is that the proposed multi-focal tdcs paradigm will alleviate LD voice symptoms and partially normalize widespread disruptions of brain activity and connectivity in these patients. This central hypothesis will be tested by pursuing the following two specific aims: (1) evaluate the efficacy of anodal, multi-focal, multi-session tdcs in improving LD symptoms, and (2) determine the effects of anodal, multi-focal tdcs on aberrant brain network connectivity and brain activity in LD patients. The successful completion of the proposed studies will have a significant impact because IT will determine the applicability of tdcs as a novel therapeutic intervention in LD patients and establish a robust scientific premise for the clinical use of tdcs for LD treatment. Throughout completion of these aims, an extensive team of mentors will provide scientific insight, technical expertise, research tools and resources, and professional development opportunities targeted towards the achievement of the following training goals: (1) gaining an advanced understanding of dystonia pathophysiology, (2) gaining experience performing translational clinical research, (3) developing expertise in the design, execution, and analysis of fmri experiments, and (4) developing processional skills necessary for an academic career in scientific research.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $0
Original award $36,458

Quick answers

Who received award F31DC024099?

F31DC024099 was awarded to President And Fellows Of Harvard College by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communincation Disorders (National Institutes of Health) on January 16, 2027.

How much is award F31DC024099 worth?

$72,916 has been obligated on F31DC024099.

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