Mechanisms of Arm Recovery in Stroke Patients With Hand Paralysis

George Mason University (GMU)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cerebral Vascular Accident; Stroke; Hemiparesis; Stroke, Ischemic

Treatments: Procedure: Control Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Procedure: Affected Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; Procedure: Unaffected Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03067818

1R21HD090516-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study examines the effect of non-invasive brain stimulation targeting different brain areas on movement of the affected arm post-stroke. Participants will receive stimulation to each of 3 different brain areas combined with a session of arm exercise.

Full description

Small improvements in affected arm movement can be made with intensive physical practice. These improvements could potentially be enhanced by combining non-invasive brain stimulation with practice.

To develop such an intervention, it is necessary to understand which brain areas should be stimulated in which types of patients. It is probably more beneficial to target one side of the brain vs. the other, for example, depending on the characteristics of the stroke.

This study will examine the effect of stimulating one side of the brain vs. the other on the amount of improvement that occurs from physically practicing functional arm movements.

Enrollment: 10 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 85 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• More than 6 months post-stroke
• Loss of voluntary finger movement in the affected hand
• Some voluntary movement of affected shoulder and/or elbow

Exclusion criteria

• Brainstem or cerebellar stroke
• Severe cognitive or language deficits
• Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
• Central nervous system disease or disorder other than stroke

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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10 participants in 3 patient groups

Unaffected Hemisphere

Experimental group

Description:

Application of "Unaffected Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation" to unaffected hemisphere site prior to physical practice

Treatment:

Procedure: Unaffected Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Affected Hemisphere

Experimental group

Description:

Application of "Affected Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation" to affected hemisphere site prior to physical practice

Treatment:

Procedure: Affected Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Control Site

Active Comparator group

Description:

Application of "Control Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation" to control site prior to practice

Treatment:

Procedure: Control Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation