healthy subjects facial paralysis Moebius syndrome
Conditions
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen
Eligibility
Age
18 Years to 99 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: For the Moebius Participants and congenital bilateral facial paralysis the following inclusion criteria are required for Part I of the study: * Males and females between the ages of 18 and 65 years * Normal visual acuity or corrected to normal vision * The participants must be willing and able to participate in the measurements * The participants must have given written informed consent to be included in the study * Clinical diagnosis of Möbius Syndrome or congenital bilateral facial paralysis from a registered neurologist;For the Volunteer Control Participants for Part I, the following inclusion criteria are required: * Males and females between the ages of 18 and 65 years * Normal visual acuity or corrected to normal vision * The participants must be willing and able to participate in the measurements * The participants must have given written informed consent to be included in the study;We shall begin by scanning for Part II the first SIX fMRI suitable volunteers who apply. Depending on the results (see section 5.3) from this, this will determine how we will procede further with Part II.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: For the Moebius Participants and congenital bilateral facial paralysis in Part I, the following exclusion criteria apply: * Those suffering from schizophrenia * Those suffering from a neurological disorder not related to Möbius e.g. epilepsy, Parkinson*s disease, and Huntington*s disease.;For the Moebius Participants and congenital bilateral facial paralysis in Part II of the study the following criteria apply: * Visual disorder that cannot be corrected through the use of corrective lenses to a level of 20-40 in both eyes (we have MRI safe glasses for a very broad range of prescriptions) * Another significant CNS disorder (e.g. brain damage, epilepsy) * Pregnancy or suspected pregnancy * Those suffering from claustrophobia and/or a panic disorder * Subjects who do not fulfil the criteria for participating in an fMRI assessment (e.g. people who have metal implants (pacemaker, heart valves, vascular clips, eye-implants or piercing)) * Wishes not to be informed of brain abnormalities that may be noticed in the scans * If they are unable to suck through a straw;For the Control Participants in Part I the following exclusion criteria apply: * Those with signs of facial paralysis (as assessed from the rated video-taped facial expressions) * Those suffering from a neurological disorder * Those with a psychiatric history (as assessed by the Suitability Questionnaire in Appendix VA of the protocol);For the Control Participants in Part II, the following exclusion criteria apply: * Visual disorder that cannot be corrected through the use of corrective lenses to a level of 20-40 in both eyes (we have MRI safe glasses for a very broad range of prescriptions) * Another significant CNS disorder (e.g. brain damage, epilepsy) * Pregnancy or suspected pregnancy * Those suffering from claustrophobia and/or a panic disorder * Participants who do not fulfil the criteria for participating in an fMRI assessment (e.g. people who have metal implants (pacemaker, heartvalves, vascular clips, eye-implants or piercing)) * Wishes not to be informed of brain abnormalities that may be noticed in the scans
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The primary study parameters involved are listed below. Full details of the experiments can be found in the protocol. 1. PSYCHOMETRIC AND EMOTIONAL RECOGNITION The core goal of our study is to investigate the recognition of emotional and facial expressions in the Möbius and congenital bilateral facial paralysis populations even though they cannot perform these movements themselves. To this end, we would therefore like to investigate: a. The extent to which Möbius and congenital bilateral facial paralysis research participants recognise facial expressions in others b. The threshold for that recognition c. The extent of the ability to generate visible facial expressions and emotions Through the use of various tools we can test the following: - Empathy (Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Questionnaire) - Emotional functioning (Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire) - General intelligence (Raven Progressive Matrix Questionnaire) - Expression and emotional recognition (Montagne-Perrett Morphed Faces). Including a group of healthy control volunteers throughout the investigation will provide information about the psychological, intellectual, emotional and empathic functioning of the Möbius research participants compared to the general population. Montagne-Perrett Morphed Faces program quantifies the capacity of the participant to associate an emotional label to facial expressions. Using it, we will examine if the capacity to perform facial expressions (which is impaired in congenital bilateral facial paralysis) influences our sensitivity to recognise emotions. 2. NEUROLOGICAL TESTING There has previously been some in depth electrophysiological testing carried out on Möbius patients showing a certain variability in how much motor capacity they have in their face. We will therefore need to quantify facial motility and somatosensory sensitivity in our Möbius and congenital bilateral facial paralysis participants, and in our control group to investi | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| n.v.t. | — |
Countries
Netherlands
Outcome results
None listed