NCT02701777

Enhancing STDP After Spinal Cord Injury

Maximizing Spike - Timing Dependent Plasticity After Spinal Cord Injury

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 62 (actual)
• Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 85 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

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.

Detailed description

To induce STDP with paired pulse, corticospinal volleys evoked by either transcranial magnetic stimulation over the primary motor cortex for upper extremities or electrical stimulation over the thoracic spine for lower extremities arrive at corticospinal-motor neuronal synapses of upper- or lower-limb muscles, 1-2 ms before antidromic potentials were elicited in motor neurons by electrical stimulation of corresponding peripheral nerves.

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injury

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	STDP	Paired stimulation will be given to the brain and to a peripheral nerve so that the messages are received at the spinal cord at predetermined time.
BEHAVIORAL	Training	The participant will be asked to perform exercises using their hands and arms.
OTHER	Sham STDP	Sham or fake paired stimulation will be given to the brain and to a peripheral nerve so that the messages are received at the spinal cord at predetermined times.
OTHER	Multisite-STDP	Paired stimulation will be given to the brain bilaterally, thoracic spine, and several peripheral nerve so that the messages are received at the spinal cord at predetermined time.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-03-01
• Primary completion: 2020-10-30
• Completion: 2020-10-30
• First posted: 2016-03-08
• Last updated: 2022-07-21
• Results posted: 2021-01-20

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States