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This study aims to explore whether listening to music intentionally can support the mental health of people recovering from a stroke. The question the investigators aim to answer is: Can intentional music listening improve emotional well-being in stroke survivors? And if so, what kinds of changes might music listening induce in mental health, thinking and memory (cognition), and brain activity? Participants will be randomly assigned to listen to either music or an audiobook for one hour each day, at home, for four weeks. Participants will also attend four in-person sessions with the researchers: at the start of the study (baseline), just before the listening period begins, after the four weeks are complete, and at a follow-up. During these visits, researchers will gather information about participants' mood and mental health (via questionnaires), assess memory and attention (via cognitive tasks), and use MRI scans to look at brain activity.
Apathy is a common set of symptoms seen in many people following a stroke. Apathy occurs when a person has lost motivation, becomes withdrawn, and stops doing things that used to be important to them. Apathy has a large negative impact on a person's quality of life, and can also have a large impact the people who take care of them. There are currently no FDA-approved treatments to help with apathy, and other services like therapy may be difficult to access for people who have had a stroke. To address this problem, investigators are conducting a study to find out if a form of treatment called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can be safe and helpful for people struggling with apathy after a stroke. This study will apply a new form of rTMS which can be delivered quickly to a part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). This study will help establish whether this treatment is safe, comfortable, and effective for people with apathy after a stroke, and will help researchers develop new forms of treatment.
Our proposed study, "NEUROBALANCE Stroke,"; aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a combined intervention involving robotic balance training and noninvasive brain stimulation in improving balance function and postural control in individuals with chronic stroke. The study will recruit 45 participants who have had a stroke at least 6 months before enrolment and experience persistent balance and gait deficits. Participants will be randomized into three groups: (1) robotic balance training with active brain stimulation, (2) robotic balance training with sham brain stimulation, and (3) standard-of-care rehabilitation. The study will involve 15 training sessions over 5 weeks, with assessments conducted at baseline, post-training, and two months post-training to evaluate balance recovery and retention. The primary focus is understanding how this intervention affects brain and muscle activity during balance tasks and how these changes translate into functional improvements in clinical outcome measures of balance function. Additionally, participant feedback on brain stimulation and exercise engagement will be collected to inform future studies. The findings may guide the development of personalized training protocols and contribute to broader rehabilitation strategies.
This trial tests a promising new intervention to promote post-stroke neural reorganization and functional recovery. The Q Therapeutic (BQ 3.0) is a wearable medical system that produces and delivers non-invasive, extremely-low-intensity and low-frequency, frequency-tuned electromagnetic fields in order to stimulate neuronal networks with the aim of reducing disability and promoting neurorecovery. This trial is a prospective, single-arm, open-label, single center clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of the Q Therapeutic (BQ 3.0) System in the rehabilitation of people with chronic stroke.
This single-session study aims to evaluate a novel gait training protocol that integrates mechanical constraints and sensory feedback to enhance paretic leg propulsion in individuals post-stroke. The study will include 15 individuals who have experienced a stroke and 15 healthy adults, each aged 20 years or older. Participants will walk on both tied-belt and split-belt treadmills under various training conditions, including backward-directed resistance (applied at the pelvis, ankle, or both) and real-time sensory feedback (visual, auditory, or combined). These interventions will be applied individually and in combination to identify the most effective environment for promoting symmetrical gait patterns. Each session will last approximately two hours. The equipment used is non-invasive, and the risk to participants is minimal.
This study evaluates a novel Virtual Reality (VR)-integrated visual feedback system designed to enhance limb propulsion during robot-assisted gait rehabilitation in individuals post-stroke. In collaboration with CUREXO, a rehabilitation robotics company, the system is embedded within the Morning Walk® end-effector robot and provides real-time visual feedback to facilitate symmetrical use of the paretic and non-paretic limbs. The goal is to address gait asymmetry commonly observed in hemiparetic stroke survivors by promoting improved paretic leg propulsion, which is a key contributor to forward movement during walking. A total of 30 participants (15 stroke, 15 healthy controls) aged 20 years or older will undergo single-session gait training using the VR-robot system. Participants will be assessed using spatiotemporal gait parameters, muscle activity, foot pressure, and vertical ground reaction forces. Additional safety measures-including a saddle-type weight support and real-time heart rate monitoring via smartwatch-are implemented to ensure a safe and controlled training environment. This study aims to test the feasibility and effectiveness of this VR-based system in improving gait symmetry and functional walking capacity in people recovering from stroke.
Investigators primary aim is to carry out a two-site, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, phase II trial to systematically examine the potential for aerobic exercise (AEx) to enhance the anti-depressant benefits of rTMS in individuals with post-stroke depression (PSD). Investigators propose to determine the efficacy of combining two known anti-depressant treatments shown to be effective in non-stroke depression, aerobic exercise (AEx) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), on post-stroke depressive symptoms. This project is based on the idea that depression negatively affects the potential for the brain to adapt in response to treatment such that rehabilitation may not produce the same changes that it does in non-depressed individuals. Investigators believe that effective treatment for PSD will result in a virtuous cycle whereby reducing depression enhances response to rehabilitation, thereby facilitating functional gains. That is, effectively treating depression will enable individuals to better recover from stroke.
Cardiac rehabilitation is the standard-of-care treatment option for patients with cardiovascular disease and has been shown to improve many aspects critical to patient recovery. Investigators believe that individuals who have had a stroke need to be treated similarly. Investigators will study the effects of a comprehensive modified cardiac rehabilitation program to determine if it can improve some of the physical and psychosocial problems common in survivors of stroke with and without depression.
Individuals with chronic stroke have long-term walking problems that limit community engagement and quality of life, lead to secondary disabilities, and increase healthcare costs and burden. These walking issues often persist despite rehabilitation. One novel target for stroke gait rehabilitation is interlimb coordination-the phase-dependent cyclical relation of the legs. Interlimb coordination is altered during walking after stroke, compromising walking stability, phase transitions, and responses to perturbation and contributing to motor compensation. It is unclear what neural pathways contribute to impaired interlimb coordination after stroke and what impact this has on walking-related outcomes. This proposal consists of two aims to address these issues, with the long-term goal of developing therapeutic interventions to improve interlimb coordination and walking after stroke. Aim 1 will identify which neural sources contribute to impaired interlimb coordination after stroke. During bilateral, cyclical recumbent stepping (analogue of walking), interlimb coordination will be assessed as relative leg phasing. During the task, transcranial magnetic stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation will be applied to assess supraspinal, interhemispheric, spinal interneuronal, and sensory pathways. The relation of interlimb coordination with these outcomes will be assessed to determine potential contributors. Aim 2 will test the association between interlimb coordination and walking after stroke. Interlimb coordination will be quantified during split-belt treadmill walking, and associations with walking speed, endurance, mobility, independence, daily activity, quality of life, and community engagement will be tested. An additional exploratory aim will determine the effect of targeted neuromodulation on lower limb interlimb coordination. Electrical stimulation will be applied to three locations in a cross-over study: the primary motor cortex (supraspinal/interhemispheric), thoracolumbar spine (spinal interneuronal), and peripheral nerves (sensory).
The purpose of this research is to evaluate a new investigational device for the diagnosis of stroke, the EMVision emu™ Brain Scanner. Stroke is the result of a blood clot stopping the normal flow of blood in the brain (ischaemic stroke) or a breakage in a blood vessel causing bleeding in the brain (haemorrhagic stroke). Stroke is a medical emergency and must be quickly diagnosed and treated. Computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are commonly used to diagnose stroke, but they are not always readily available. EMVision has developed the emu™ Brain Scanner, a helmet-like device which scans the head using ultra-high frequency radio signals. It is portable and easy to use, making it more accessible than CT or MRI machines. Easier access to the EMVision emu™ Brain Scanner may reduce the time taken to diagnose stroke, leading to faster treatment and better health outcomes. It is the purpose of this study in the first instance to determine the accuracy of the EMVision emu™ Brain Scanner in the detection of haemorrhagic stroke.