Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Active, not recruiting
Administrative data
| NCT number |
NCT03515668 |
| Other study ID # |
17-123 |
| Secondary ID |
|
| Status |
Active, not recruiting |
| Phase |
N/A
|
| First received |
|
| Last updated |
|
| Start date |
April 20, 2018 |
| Est. completion date |
December 31, 2021 |
Study information
| Verified date |
February 2021 |
| Source |
Brock University |
| Contact |
n/a |
| Is FDA regulated |
No |
| Health authority |
|
| Study type |
Interventional
|
Clinical Trial Summary
our goal is to study the effects of dopamine activity, using Ritalin ingestion, on
neuromuscular function over the course of a progressive heating and cooling protocol
developed in our lab. We hypothesize that Ritalin will minimize the previously reported
progressive impairment in neuromuscular function with hyperthermia compared to placebo,
suggesting that dopamine activity preserves neuromuscular capacity with hyperthermia.
Description:
Increased core temperature (hyperthermia) has been associated with impaired neuromuscular
performance, with the majority of research suggesting that the observed fatigue is related to
the central nervous system. Small doses of Ritalin has been used to study how changes in
dopamine activity affects exercise capacity in the heat. This study found that 20 mg of
Ritalin had no effect on exercise capacity in a thermoneutral environment of 18°C. However,
when in a hot (30°C) environment, the Ritalin resulted in a 16% improvement in finishing time
compared to the placebo trial. Interestingly, the higher output during the Ritalin-hot
condition also resulted in higher rates of heat production and a higher (~0.6°C) core
temperature, suggesting that dopamine enabled greater voluntary tolerance of hyperthermia.
This matches recent work from our own work showing that motivational skills training
increased both exercise tolerance and final core temperature, and it is possible that
dopamine activity played a role in this improvement.
Ultimately, fatigue is shown in an inability to sustain muscular force. However, the role of
dopamine activity on neuromuscular function (e.g., central activation and recruitment of
muscle) during hyperthermia is unknown. One study reported that 20 mg of Ritalin did not
alter neuromuscular function, but this study was done without thermal stress.
Therefore, our goal is to study the effects of dopamine activity, using Ritalin ingestion, on
neuromuscular function over the course of a progressive heating and cooling protocol
developed in our lab. We hypothesize that Ritalin will minimize the previously reported
progressive impairment in neuromuscular function with hyperthermia (5, 7) compared to
placebo, suggesting that dopamine activity preserves neuromuscular capacity with
hyperthermia.
