18 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Investigating modulation of motor cortex excitability by transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation.
The goal of this clinical trial is to to determine the effect of movement-based priming using the upper limbs on lower limb neuroplasticity and behaviors in chronic stroke. The main questions we aim to answer are: 1. What are the acute effect of UL-priming on lower limb neuroplasticity and motor behaviors in persons with stroke compared to other priming modalities? 2. What are the time effects of UL-priming on neuroplasticity and motor behavior in individuals with stroke? In this cross over study, participants will be involved in three priming sessions involving - UL-priming using rhythmic, symmetric, bilateral priming involving the movement of at least one major joint in the upper limbs. AND - Sham priming using auditory stimulation (1 Hz metronome). AND - Lower-limb movement-based priming using rhythmic, symmetric, dorsiflexion and plantarflexion movements. Researchers will compare outcome measures between the different priming sessions.
High intensity exercise is known to improve a person's ability to learn new motor skills. The goal of this project is to evaluate if a robotic exosuit can help people who have had a stroke perform walking rehabilitation at higher intensities than they are able to without the exosuit. The investigators will measure exercise training intensity, biomarkers of neuroplasticity (e.g., brain-derived neurotrophic factor; BDNF), and motor learning when people poststroke exercise with and without the exosuit. For this protocol, exosuits developed in collaboration with ReWalk™ Robotics will be used. Aim 1: Determine the effects of a soft robotic exosuit on gait training intensity and serum BDNF in persons post-stroke completing a single bout of high intensity walking. Hypothesis 1: Exosuits will allow individuals post-stroke to (i) walk at higher intensities or (ii) walk at a high intensity for longer durations. Hypothesis 2: Training at a higher intensity, or training at high intensity for longer durations, will result in increased serum BDNF. Aim 2: Determine the effects of a soft robotic exosuit on gait biomechanics measured after a single bout of high intensity walking with versus without a soft robotic exosuit. Hypothesis 3: A single bout of high intensity walking with an exosuit will lead to demonstrably better gait biomechanics than a single bout of high intensity exercise without an exosuit.
Every year, almost 800,000 people experience a stroke in the United States, which lead to upper-limb impairments, making recovery of motor function a priority in stroke rehabilitation. 1) The primary objective of this study is to determine whether fast arm movement training on a tracking task ("Speed-training"), in chronic stroke survivors with mild to moderate paresis, will generalize to improve arm function better than dose-equivalent accuracy training on the same task. 2) study the effect of intensive arm training on the recovery of anticipatory feedforward control. 3) Determine the involvement of cerebellar-cortical circuits in the recovery of arm movements due to speed training.
Individuals who experienced a stroke over one year ago will be randomly assigned to receive 1 of 4 different conditions of brain stimulation. All individuals will receive therapy of the hand and arm following the stimulation. This study will try to determine which brain stimulation condition leads to the greatest improvement in hand and arm function.
The purpose of this study is to learn about the effect of sleep apnea and low oxygen on muscle strength and lung function in people with chronic spinal cord injury.
This pilot study will examine a combination therapy for adults with chronic, severe motor impairment of an arm after stroke. The intervention will combine brain stimulation with physical rehabilitation of the arm on the side of the body more-affected by stroke.
Stroke patients who have little or no voluntary movement in the hand on the more affected side of their body more than one year after stroke have few treatment options. This project proposes to test the efficacy of a form of Constraint-Induced Movement therapy designed for patients with such severe impairment in conjunction with an agent, fluoxetine, which has been shown in some studies to enhance brain neuroplasticity in response to training. Constraint-Induced Movement therapy, which is abbreviated CIMT, is a form of physical rehabilitation based on basic research in neuroscience and behavioral science. If the project is successful, an efficacious, evidence-based therapy will become available to stroke patients for what is now a largely untreated condition
The goal of this project is to examine the area of the brain that controls muscle movement for a group of muscles important for swallowing, and to see how that area changes over 2 weeks of time.
This study will examine whether continuous use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in combination with motor training can lead to long-term improvement in movement performance beyond what can be achieved with motor training alone. Healthy normal volunteers 18-80 years of age who are clearly right- or left-handed may be eligible for this study. Each candidate is screened with a medical history, clinical and neurological examination, questionnaires to evaluate memory, attention, and handedness and a brain MRI, if one has not been done by NINDS within 12 months of entering the study. Pregnant women may not participate. The study involves 10 sessions (in addition to the screening visit) over 3 months. Sessions 1-5 are completed over 5 consecutive days. Sessions 6-10 are divided over the remaining time. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) tDCS during motor training; 2) tDCS after training; or 3) training with sham tDCS. During these sessions, participants perform a pinch force task (squeezing a small device between the thumb and forefinger) and visuomotor tasks (using a device to move the cursor on a computer screen to various targets and holding the cursor in place for 1 second). During the motor training and performance sessions, participants have the following procedures. * TMS measurements: A wire coil is held on the scalp, and a brief electrical current is passed through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the brain. During the stimulation, the subject may be asked to tense certain muscles slightly or perform other simple actions. The stimulation may cause a twitch in muscles of the face, arm, or leg, and the subject may hear a click and feel a pulling sensation on the skin under the coil. * tDCS: Small, wet sponge electrodes are applied to the head - one above the eye and the other on the back of the head. A small electrical current is passed between them. The subject may feel an itching or tingling sensation under the electrodes or see light flashes. Some sessions are done with sham tDCS. * Surface electromyography: Electrodes are filled with a conductive gel and taped to the skin over one small hand muscle to measure the electrical activity of muscles. * Behavioral measurements: Evaluation of learned movement tasks * Questionnaires to evaluate the subject's attention, fatigue and mood before and after testing
The AMPLIFI study (Adaptive Modulation of Plasticity through Lactate and Fitness Interventions) investigates how short-term aerobic exercise influences brain plasticity and learning in older adults and stroke survivors. The study compares three groups: one performing aerobic cycling exercise at an intensity that increases lactate levels, one doing low-intensity exercise, and one receiving health education without exercise. All participants will complete motor learning tasks and undergo brain stimulation testing (using transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS) to assess how well the brain responds to training. The goal is to understand whether different types of exercise can improve brain function, movement, and memory, and how the body's response to exercise (like lactate levels) might support brain health. This research may help identify low-cost, non-invasive interventions-such as targeted exercise-that improve motor and cognitive outcomes in aging and stroke recovery.
The goal of this clinical trial is to determine whether people with paralysis due to a spinal cord injury can benefit from breathing short intermittent bouts of air with low oxygen (O2) combined with slightly higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), interspaced by breathing room air. The technical name for this therapeutic air mixture is 'acute intermittent hypercapnic-hypoxia,' abbreviated as AIHH. Following exposure to the gas mixture, participants will receive non-invasive electrical stimulation to the spinal cord paired with specific and targeted exercise training. The main question this trial aims to answer is: Can the therapeutic application of AIHH, combined with non-invasive electrical stimulation to the spinal cord plus exercise training, increase the strength of muscles involved in breathing and hand function in people with paralysis due to a spinal cord injury? Participants will be asked to attend a minimum of five study visits, each separated by at least a week. During these visits, participants will be required to: * Answer basic questions about their health * Receive exposure to the therapeutic air mixture (AIHH) * Undergo non-invasive spinal electrical stimulation * Complete functional breathing and arm strength testing * Undergo a single blood draw * Provide a saliva sample Researchers will compare the results of individuals without a spinal cord injury to those of individuals with a spinal cord injury to determine if the effects are similar.
Subjects will receive non-invasive stimulation of nerves on their arm and intensive motor training of their arm. The timing of the stimulation in relation to the training will vary by group.
This study will examine a form of non-invasive brain stimulation applied with intensive therapy of the arm and hand. The goal of the study is to determine if arm and hand function can be improved in people with incomplete cervical spinal cord injury (neck spinal cord injury, tetraplegia). Participants will be assigned to receive either active or inactive non-invasive brain stimulation.
Acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) involves short (\~1-2min) bouts of breathing low oxygen air to stimulate spinal neuroplasticity. Studies in rodents and humans indicate that AIH improves motor function after spinal cord injury (SCI). This study will use a double blind, cross-over design to test if the combination of AIH and respiratory strength training improves breathing function more than either approach alone in adults with chronic SCI.
Armodafinil is an FDA approved medication with wakefulness-promoting properties. It is a relatively safe agent with interesting neurochemical effects on the catecholamine system, producing an improvement in cognitive function, particularly working memory in humans. When combined with intensive task-related training, armodafinil may accelerate motor recovery in chronic stroke patients. The primary aim of this study is to determine whether administration of armodafinil during subacute post-stroke rehabilitation will augment cortical plasticity and enhance motor recovery. The primary hypothesis suggests that cortical plasticity will be enhanced by armodafinil and, therefore, will induce an improvement in motor function and better performances on measures of motor control.
Ankle dorsiflexor weakness (paresis) is one of the most frequently persisting consequences of stroke. The purpose of this exploratory study is to compare two different treatments -- Contralaterally Controlled Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (CCNMES) and Cyclic Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (cNMES) -- for improved recovery of ankle movement and better walking after stroke.
This study will examine the effectiveness of an experimental treatment to improve hand function in patients who have had a stroke affecting one side of the body. One of the main problems of stroke patients is difficulty using the affected hand. Most treatments focus on acute (early) intervention, although special exercises may help some chronic patients. Previous studies have indicated that combining hand exercises with anesthesia (blocking motor and sensory function) of the upper arm may improve hand movement in stroke patients, even in the chronic state. This study will examine whether the exercise plus anesthesia treatment is more beneficial for these patients over the long-term than exercise alone. Patients 18 years or older who are at least 12 months post stroke, which has affected only one side of the body, may be eligible for this study. Candidates will have a medical history and physical and neurological examinations. Participants will be randomly divided into two groups: one will practice hand exercises without upper arm anesthesia and the other will exercise with anesthesia. All patients will perform two consecutive sessions of 30-minute pinch practice-forceful pinching of the thumb and index finger. Patients in the anesthesia group will have the anesthetic injected in the lower neck. Enough anesthetic will be administered to block motor and sensory function in the shoulder and upper arm, while maintaining as much function as possible in the forearm and hand. All patients will also have transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) testing. For this procedure, a very brief electrical current is passed through an insulated wire coil placed on the head, producing a magnetic pulse. The pulse travels through the scalp and skull and causes small electrical currents in the outer part of the brain. During the study, the patient will be asked to make movements, do simple tasks, or tense muscles, while the electrical activity of the muscles is recorded. Patients will have four sessions at 3-week intervals and three follow-up sessions at 3 weeks, 9 weeks and 24 weeks after the testing. Follow-up evaluations will include pinch power testing, TMS, sensory function test and hand function measurement.