View clinical trials related to Neuronal Plasticity.
Filter by:The objective of this research is to evaluate the benefits of an experimental therapy for motor recovery of the arm after a stroke, which includes the application of a functional electrical stimulation therapy coupled to P-300 based Brain-Computer Interface system (BCI-FES). For this purpose, the investigators will compare two groups, the first one will receive only conventional physical and occupational therapy, while the second one will receive conventional therapy together with BCI-FES therapy. The control and experimental group will receive 20 sessions of conventional physical and occupational therapy at a rate of five sessions per week for 4 weeks (control group double dose of conventional therapy), and the experimental group will receive 20 sessions of rehabilitation with the BCI-FES system at a rate of five sessions per week for 4 weeks. Broadly speaking, the BCI is in charge of determining the movement selected by the individual and assist the hand movement while performing functional tasks. The movements included in the sessions will be hand opening, grasping, pinching, pronation and supination, which are combined to facilitate the execution of functional movements that are performed together with the manipulation of daily used utensils. The visual, sensory and motor feedback provided by the BCI-FES system that enables the individual to replicate the afferent-efferent motor circuit, contributes to the activation and recruitment of neural pathways, which is associated with motor recovery. It should be noted that this BCI-FES system has already been tested previously in a study with healthy individuals, and in a non-randomized pilot study that used this therapy for upper limb motor function recovery in chronic post-stroke patients. To evaluate the results, a series of tests will be applied to assess the motor recovery, including the FMA-UE: Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale of Upper Extremity, ARAT: Action Research Arm Test, MAS: Modified Ashworth Scale, FIM: Functional Independence Measure and MAL: Motor Activity Log. Likewise, resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies will be performed to evaluate the degree of functional connectivity between various brain regions of interest related to the planning and execution of movements. This will determine whether the experimental therapy with BCI-FES favors arm and hand recovery in surviving stroke individuals.
The goal of this study is to examine changes in the brain, behavior, and personal experience when music is used to guide learning of finger movement sequences (compared to visual stimuli alone) in healthy older adults. The main research questions this study aims to answer are: 1. Is auditory-based motor training associated with increased structural integrity of brain white matter tracts (connecting auditory-motor regions) compared to motor training with visual cues only? 2. Is auditory-based motor training (as compared to visual clues only) associated with increased brain cortical thickness, and changes in brain activation while performing a task in the MRI and while at rest, in auditory and sensorimotor regions? 3. Does auditory-based motor training lead to greater motor improvement on the trained task compared to a visually cued motor training? 4. Does auditory-based motor training lead to greater improvement on thinking, movement, and self-reported wellbeing measures, compared to visual cues alone? In an 8-week home training, participants will be randomized into either the music-cued motor learning (Experimental Group) or visually cued only condition (Control Group), participants will complete the following measures before-and-after the training is administered at week 1 and in the end of the 8-week trial: - MRI scans (structural and functional) - Behavioral measures (motor, cognition) - Questionnaires administered pre-and-post training (psychosocial functioning). - Questionnaires administered once only (personality traits, musical background) - In between measures, participants will follow an online computer-based training at home of 20 minutes per session, 3 times per week for 8 weeks, for a total of 24 sessions constituting 8 hours of training.
Aerobic endurance training has shown positive effects on symptoms, cognition, daily functioning, and the structure of the hippocampus in patients with schizophrenia. The study investigates genetic and epigenetic influences on neuroplastic changes following three months of endurance training. A control group performs flexibility, strength, and balance training. The main objective is to examine the association between a genetic risk score for schizophrenia and volume increase in the CA4/DG region of the hippocampus. Additional goals include examining changes in synapses, brain structure, function, and metabolism, as well as clinical symptoms and cognitive performance.
Balance impairment increases the risk of falling and is associated with a fear of falling and immobility. Balance impairment can ultimately affect the morbidity of cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, and mortality, especially in an older population. Among the multiple types of exercise, balance training is the most effective in preventing falls. This study aims to investigate white matter plasticity in healthy elderly population, based on stepwise balance training. Healthy elderly participants will undergo four weeks of balance training. The investigators will analyze longitudinal changes in the microstructural integrity of the white matter tracts pre- and post-training.
The purpose of this study is to investigate neurocognitive mechanisms underlying response to intervention aimed at enhancing, and remediating weaknesses in, numerical skills in children, including those with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD).
Imaging methods bring new possibilities for describing the brain plasticity processes that underly the improvement of clinical function after physiotherapy in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). The study determined whether facilitation physiotherapy could enhance brain plasticity, compared two facilitation methods, and looked for any relation to clinical improvement in pwMS.
New research in animal models of MS suggests that greater training intensity is required to restore lost functions. We have developed and tested vigorous intensity cool room treadmill training that people with MS who have fatigue and heat-sensitivity can tolerate. This study will focus on the appropriate dosage of training.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are often offered walking aids and compensatory strategies rather than restorative rehabilitation. We have developed a cool room treadmill training method that uses body-weight support that people with MS fatigue and heat sensitivity can tolerate. Our previous research shows that people with advanced MS use three times more energy for essential tasks such as walking. This project will test whether 10 weeks of body-weight supported treadmill training in a room cooled to 16°C improves walking, fitness and fatigue in people with advanced MS.
Stroke occurs as a result of blood vessels of the brain becoming blocked or bleeding which in turn can result in loss of function in the limbs. Rehabilitation of patients following stroke includes repetitive, task based exercises to help regain normal limb function. Developments in stroke rehabilitation have resulted in more and more therapeutic options being available for inclusion in the treatment plan of stroke patients. The benefits of computerised task based arm and hand rehabilitation exercises in stroke rehabilitation are well known. Computer based rehabilitation supports the stroke patient in performing high intensity, multiple repetition exercises and in doing so encourages the regeneration of brain cells. In addition, it is believed that the stimulating environment provided by computerised exercise programs encourages the ability to problem solve and perform tasks. However, the effects of such computer based treatments on cognition have rarely been studied. In Turkey to date there are no community based, task specific computerised exercise programmes available to stroke sufferers. Such systems may provide inpatient and community based stroke sufferers with a practical and economical therapeutic option as a part of stroke rehabilitation. Moreover, this may provide the patient with a mode of ongoing, long term therapeutic exercise and maintenance of skills acquired in the hospital rehabilitation period shortly after stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the benefits of computer based, task specific exercises when compared to conventional rehabilitation alone on arm and hand function, quality of life and cognition in stroke patients.
Non-depolarizing magnetic fields, like Low Frequency-Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (LF-PEMFs) have shown the ability to modulate living structures, principally by influencing synaptic activity and ion channels on cellular membranes. Recently, the CTU Mega 20 device was presented as a molecular accelerator, using energy up to 200 Joules and providing high-power (2 Tesla) pulsating fields with a water-repulsive (diamagnetic) action and tissue biostimulation. The investigators tested the hypothesis that LF-PEMFs could modulate long-term corticospinal excitability in healthy brains by applying CTU Mega 20®. Ten healthy subjects without known neurological and/or psychiatric diseases entered the study. A randomized double-blind sham-controlled crossover design was employed, recording TMS parameters (amplitude variation of the motor evoked potential as index of cortical excitability perturbations of the motor system) before (pre) and after (post +0, +15, +30 min) a single CTU Mega 20 session on the corresponding primary right-hand motor area, using a real (magnetic field = 2 Tesla; intensity = 90 J; impulse frequency = 7Hz; duration = 15 minutes) or sham device. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA with TIME (pre, post +0, +15, +30 min) and TREATMENT (real vs sham stimulation) as within-subjects factor was applied.