Neural Basis of Sensory Learning: Brain Regions
ConditionBasic Science
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-45
SponsorIndiana University
About this trial
The purpose of this study is to understand how the sensory and motor areas of the brain work together to keep a person's hand movements accurate (sensorimotor learning). The investigators hope this information may be useful one day to improve rehabilitation techniques in patients with brain lesions.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Potential subjects must be between the ages of 18-45 years old and right-handed. Aging has been shown to affect the morphology of sensory and motor nerves, conduction velocities of nerves, and number of motor neurons in the spinal cord; to avoid these confounding factors we will only examine younger-to middle-aged adults.
There are differences in cortical function and corticospinal projections such that testing the right arm of a right-handed individual is not necessarily equivalent to testing the left arm of a left-handed individual. To eliminate this confound, we will only test right-handed individuals. All these factors will be determined with the initial screening questions.
Covid has been found to have neurological effects in some people, but mostly the effects on sensorimotor control and neurophysiology are unknown. So we want to reduce the chances of inadvertently testing subjects who have covid. We will therefore only include individuals who are fully vaccinated (2+ weeks past their final vaccine dose) or have a negative Covid test within 4 days of testing. We will further only include individuals who report being free of Covid symptoms in week preceding testing.
Disqualifiers
Determined during the Familiarization session.
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation
Other interventionReal or sham continuous theta burst TMS (cTBS) will be delivered to a location on the head, determined by randomized group assignment. cTBS consists of 600 low-intensity TMS pulses delivered over 40 seconds in a pattern of 50 Hz triplets delivered at 5 Hz.
Treatment groups
300 Participants
are divided into 7 treatment groups7
Treatment groupsSee each treatment group below.
Group A: Primary motor cortex--Exp 1Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Somatosensory cortex--Exp 1Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group C: Vertex sham--Exp 1Sham comparator 1 intervention
Group D: Anterior superior parietal lobule--Exp 2Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group E: Ventral premotor cortex--Exp 2Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group F: Cerebellar cortex--Exp 2Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group G: Vertex sham--Exp 2Sham comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Realignment
Measured by comparing where the subject points on a touchscreen when indicating perceived position of visual and proprioceptive targets early vs. late in the behavioral task.
Time frame
1 daySecondary outcomes
1
Visuo-proprioceptive weighting
The degree to which participant relies on vision vs. proprioception when both are available. Measured by comparing where the subject points on a touchscreen when indicating perceived position of visual vs. proprioceptive targets.
Time frame
1 day2
Target hand reaching
Location participant points at with no performance feedback.
Time frame
1 day.3
Target estimation variance
Variance with which participant estimate visual and proprioceptive target positions. Computed from where subjects point at targets on a touchscreen.
Time frame
1 day4
Motor cortex excitability (arms 1-3)
mean motor evoked potential amplitude at SI1mV (stimulus intensity that elicits 1 mV response). Measured pre- and post-cTBS in Arms 1-3 only.
Time frame
1 daySponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Indiana University
Lead sponsor
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov