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METHODS article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Imaging and Stimulation
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1406786

Next Move in Movement Disorders (NEMO): Neuroimaging protocols for hyperkinetic movement disorders

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Movement Disorder Expertise Center, Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
  • 2 Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Innovative Molecular Tracers, Department of Basic Neurosciences and Neurocenter, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 3 Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Department of Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: The Next Move in Movement Disorders (NEMO) study is an initiative aimed at advancing our understanding and the classification of hyperkinetic movement disorders, including tremor, myoclonus, dystonia, and myoclonus-dystonia. The study has two main objectives: (1) to develop a computer-aided tool for precise and consistent classification of these movement disorder phenotypes, and (2) to deepen our understanding of brain pathophysiology through advanced neuroimaging techniques. This protocol review details the neuroimaging data acquisition and preprocessing procedures employed by the NEMO team to achieve these goals. Methods and analysis: To meet the study's objectives, NEMO utilizes multiple imaging techniques, including T1-weighted structural MRI, resting-state fMRI, motor task fMRI, and 18F-FDG PET scans. We will outline our efforts over the past four years to enhance the quality of our collected data, and address challenges such as head movements during image acquisition, choosing acquisition parameters and constructing data preprocessing pipelines. This study is the first to employ these neuroimaging modalities in a standardized approach contributing to more uniformity in the analyses of future studies comparing these patient groups. The data collected will contribute to the development of a machine learning-based classification tool and improve our understanding of disorder-specific neurobiological factors. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval has been obtained from the relevant local ethics committee. The NEMO study is designed to pioneer the application of machine learning of movement disorders. We expect to publish articles in multiple related fields of research and patients will be informed of important results via patient associations and press releases.

    Keywords: hyperkinetic movement disorders, fMRI, FDG PET, Tremor, Myoclonus, Dystonia, Myoclonus-dystonia

    Received: 25 Mar 2024; Accepted: 09 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Dalenberg, Peretti, Marapin, Renken, Van Der Stouwe and Tijssen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jelle R. Dalenberg, Movement Disorder Expertise Center, Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, 9713, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.