NCT06815601

Neuromodulation After Spinal Cord Injury to Improve Limb Function

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: State University of New York at Buffalo · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 75 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The University at Buffalo (UB) Department of Rehabilitation Sciences is looking for adult volunteers with and without spinal cord injuries for a study on hand movement. The goal of the study is to learn about how the brain, nerves, and muscles of the body are connected and perform everyday tasks. This may help us to develop ways to improve the hand functions of people with spinal cord injuries.

Detailed description

The main goal of rehabilitation strategies in humans with spinal cord injury (SCI) is to strengthen transmission in spared neural networks to restore functional movements. Recent evidence showed that neuromodulation approaches may increase the transmission in corticospinal pathway in humans with SCI and improve functional outcomes. Therefore, the investigators aim to investigate how the noninvasive brain stimulation protocols affects neuroplasticity of corticospinal pathway. Specifically, the investigators will use the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to explore its effect. The investigators will investigate the effect of short-term and long-term rTMS application in individuals with SCI.

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injury
• Spinal Cord Injury Cervical

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	rTMS	Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) will be utilized since they have been reported to have a cortical neuromodulatory effect. The iTBS protocol will be applied over primary motor cortex to investigate its effect on corticospinal excitability and functional outcome. Theta burst stimulation (TBS) consists of bursts of pulses containing 3 pulses at 50 Hz (3 pulses per second) repeated at 200 ms intervals (5 Hz). During iTBS, a 2 second train of TBS is repeated every 10 seconds (600 pulses in 190 seconds).
OTHER	Sham rTMS	Sham iTBS protocols will be applied with the same parameters as in iTBS protocol. However, sham coil will be used.
BEHAVIORAL	Motor training	The motor training will be focused on participant's hand motor function such as grasping function.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-04-10
• Primary completion: 2027-01-01
• Completion: 2028-01-01
• First posted: 2025-02-07
• Last updated: 2025-04-15

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States