NCT01302522

Mental Practice Impact on Gait and Cortical Organization in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Mental Practice Impact on Gait and Cortical Organization in SCI

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: —
• Sponsor: University of Cincinnati · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: —

Summary

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a disabling condition that impairs fundamental abilities, such as ambulation, respiration, and toileting. Compromised ambulation is a common, devastating impairment following SCI. Yet, despite the fundamental desire to walk, no conventional rehabilitation regimen reliably improves ambulation after SCI, and many SCI patients do not have reliable transportation access, decreasing community integration and access to needed services, including rehabilitation. Little is also known about the subtle neural events that may predict motor recovery in incomplete SCI patients. This study will test a novel, safe, easy to implement technique that has shown promise in improving gait in incomplete SCI patients. The investigators expect that this study will confirm the efficacy of this technique, by showing that it increases the speed and efficiency of walking. This outcome is expected to produce a therapy that improves outcomes and health, and reduces care costs, for community dwelling patients with incomplete SCI.

Conditions

• Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Mental practice	All patients in the study will be administered a regimen of locomotor therapy (rehabilitative therapy working on walking). Half of the patients will also be administered a regimen in which they mentally rehearse the exercises that they have just physically performed.

Timeline

• Start date: 2008-09-01
• Primary completion: 2010-07-01
• Completion: 2010-12-01
• First posted: 2011-02-24
• Last updated: 2011-02-24