Enhancing STDP After Spinal Cord Injury

Completed · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Spinal Cord Injury

In brief

The overall goal is to develop new clinical approaches to restore limb function after spinal cord injury (SCI). Corticospinal tract (CST) axons are involved in controlling limb function. Paired pulse induced spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) enhances synaptic strength between residual CST axons and spinal motoneurons (SMNs) resulting in temporary improvements in limb function in humans with incomplete SCI. Motor training will be combined with paired-pulse STDP stimulation to further enhance plasticity and behavioral recovery.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02701777

Run by

VA Office of Research and Development

People needed

62

Starts

2016-03-01

Expected to finish

2020-10-30

Last updated by the study team

2022-07-21

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 85. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Participants who are unimpaired healthy controls:
• Male and females between ages 18-85 years
• Right handed
• Able to complete precision grips with both hands
• Able to complete full wrist flexion-extension bilaterally
• Able to walk unassisted
• Able to complete full ankle flexion-extension bilaterally
• Participants who have had a spinal cord injury:
• Male and females between ages 18-85 years
• SCI ( 6 months of injury)
• Spinal Cord injury at or above L5
• The ability to produce a visible precision grip force with one hand
• Able to perform some small wrist flexion and extension
• The ability to perform a small visible contraction with dorsiflexion and hip flexor muscles
• No subjects will be excluded based on their race, religion, ethnicity, gender or HIV status.
• ASIA A,B,C, or D

You may not qualify if…

• Exclusion criteria for enrollment For SCI and Healthy Control Subjects (4-8 exclusion for non-invasive brain stimulation only):
• Uncontrolled medical problems including pulmonary, cardiovascular or orthopedic disease
• Any debilitating disease prior to the SCI that caused exercise intolerance
• Premorbid, ongoing major depression or psychosis, altered cognitive status
• History of head injury or stroke
• Metal plate in skull
• History of seizures
• Receiving drugs acting primarily on the central nervous system, which lower the seizure threshold (see appendix 2)
• Pregnant females
• Ongoing cord compression or a syrinx in the spinal cord or who suffer from a spinal cord disease such as spinal stenosis, spina bifida, MS, or herniated disk
• Individuals with scalp shrapnel, cochlear implants, or aneurysm clips.

Where it is running

• Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL — Hines, Illinois, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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