Wrist Extensor MEP Up-conditioning for Individuals With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

Official title

Can Increasing Motor Evoked Potential Size Improve Upper Extremity Motor Function in Individuals With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury?

Overview

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between common clinical assessments and measurements of the function of brain-spinal cord-muscle connections, and to examine the effects of training a brain-spinal cord-muscle response in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury. A transcranial magnetic stimulator (TMS) is used for examining brain-to-muscle pathways. This stimulator produces a magnetic field for a very short period of time and indirectly stimulates brain cells with little or no discomfort. The target muscle is the wrist extensor (extensor carpi radialis) muscle that bends the wrist back. It is hypothesized that training the wrist extensor muscle response to transcranial magnetic stimulation will increase the strength of the brain-to-muscle pathway, which will improve the ability to move the arm. It is hoped that the results of this training study will help in developing therapy strategies for individuals, promoting better understanding of clinical assessments, and understanding treatments that aim to improve function recovery in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). This study requires 30 visits, and each visit will last approximately 1.5 hours.

Interventions

• Behavioral MEP Operant Up-conditioning of the Wrist Extensor
  This is a training intervention in which the brain-spinal cord-muscle pathways are strengthened in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a type of brain stimulation, will be used to elicit a muscle response from the wrist extensor (extensor carpi radialis), the muscle the bends the wrist back.

Primary outcome measures

• Change in the excitability/strength of the brain-spinal cord-muscle pathway at the brain level as measured by the Motor Evoked Potential [Time frame: Baseline and final training session (approximately 2.5 months)]
• Change in ability to move the arm as measured by the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT). Maximum score of 57 points [Time frame: change from baseline to immediately after completing the training protocol]
• Change in ability to move the arm as measured by the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) [Time frame: change from baseline to immediately after completing the training protocol]
• Change in gross manual dexterity as measured by the Box and Block Test (BBT) [Time frame: change from baseline to immediately after completing the training protocol]
• Change in fine motor ability and finger dexterity as measured by the Nine Hole Peg Test [Time frame: change from baseline to immediately after completing the training protocol]
• Change in strength as measured by Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) [Time frame: change from baseline to immediately after completing the training protocol]
• Change in sensation on the back and palm of the hand as measured by the Semmes Weinstein Monofilament Test [Time frame: change from baseline to immediately after completing the training protocol]
• Change in spasticity as measured by the Modified Ashworth Scale (mAS) [Time frame: change from baseline to immediately after completing the training protocol]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• a history of injury to spinal cord at or above C6
• neurologically stable (>6 mo post SCI)
• medical clearance to participate
• weak wrist extension at least unilaterally
• expectation that current medication will be maintained without change for at least 3 months. Stable use of anti-spasticity medication (e.g., baclofen, diazepam, tizanidine) is accepted. In participants with bilateral wrist extension weakness, the more severely impaired arm is studied.

Exclusion criteria

• motoneuron injury
• medically unstable condition
• cognitive impairment
• a history of epileptic seizures
• metal implants in the cranium
• implanted biomedical device in or above the chest (e.g., a cardiac pacemaker, cochlear implant)
• no measurable MEP elicited in the ECR
• unable to produce any voluntary ECR EMG activity
• extensive use of functional electrical stimulation to the arm on a daily basis
• pregnancy (due to changes in posture and potential medical instability).

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Single group

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

United States · 1 center

• Medical University of South Carolina — Charleston

Identifiers

NCT: NCT05321017 · 00113108

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗