NCT01851629

Walking Adaptability Post-Spinal Cord Injury

Adaptive Walking Responses Critical for Effective Community Ambulation Post-Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 7 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Florida · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is: (1) to establish assessment techniques (in our laboratory) to identify the functional integrity of long spinal tracts associated with adaptive walking recovery post-spinal cord injury and (2) to preliminary investigate locomotor outcomes associated with an adaptive locomotor training approach post-spinal cord injury.

Detailed description

Eligible individuals without spinal cord injury that are enrolled in the study will participate for 1-2 days. These individuals may undergo a variety of non-invasive neurophysiological tests which evaluate spinal reflexes and integrity of specific spinal pathways. In addition, their movement may be assessed during walking on a treadmill and overground in a variety of different conditions (e.g. with mirrors, without mirrors, with obstacles, without obstacles). Eligible individuals with spinal cord injury that are enrolled in the study will undergo the same testing as described above for the healthy controls. In addition, a small subset of these individuals may receive locomotor training (3 weeks of basic locomotor training followed by 3 weeks of adaptive locomotor training, separated by a 3 week washout period). For the individuals receiving locomotor training, they will be tested before and after each 3 week training session.

Conditions

• Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury
• Brown Sequard Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Locomotor Training	Individuals are provided manual assistance for intense, task-specific stepping practice on a treadmill and overground.
OTHER	Cross-Sectional Testing (No Intervention)	Individuals with and without spinal cord injury will be evaluated to develop protocols within our laboratory to assess reflexes (spinal tract integrity), walking ability, and whether mirror images during walking enhance or disrupt motor responses during walking.

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-06-01
• Primary completion: 2015-02-01
• Completion: 2015-02-01
• First posted: 2013-05-10
• Last updated: 2015-05-01

Locations

4 sites across 1 country: United States