Studying Use-Dependent Plasticity
| Status: | Completed |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Healthy Studies |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Other |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 18 - Any |
| Updated: | 4/21/2016 |
| Start Date: | August 2003 |
| End Date: | June 2007 |
Bi-hemispheric Plasticity Elicited By Unilateral Finger Motor Training
Recent studies suggest that when patients learn a new motor movement, it may cause a change
in the way the nerves act in the area of the brain that controls that movement. This change
is called use-dependent plasticity.
The purpose of this study is to determine the direction and extent of the changes that take
place in the brain areas that control movement in the untrained finger after the training of
the opposite finger. The study outcomes may help researchers to develop rehabilitation
strategies for people who have suffered brain injuries.
Eighteen healthy adults age 18 years or older will be enrolled in this study. Participants
will undergo a clinical exam and then come back to the Clinical Center three times for
sessions that will last approximately 2 hours each. For each session, participants' forearms
will be immobilized and a small electronic device will be attached to each index finger so
that researchers can measure their movements. Participants will be asked to move either
index finger and to observe and concentrate on its movement. Investigators will perform
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) before and after these motor exercises. For TMS, a
wire coil is held over the scalp and a brief electrical current passes through the coil,
creating a magnetic pulse that electrically stimulates the brain.
in the way the nerves act in the area of the brain that controls that movement. This change
is called use-dependent plasticity.
The purpose of this study is to determine the direction and extent of the changes that take
place in the brain areas that control movement in the untrained finger after the training of
the opposite finger. The study outcomes may help researchers to develop rehabilitation
strategies for people who have suffered brain injuries.
Eighteen healthy adults age 18 years or older will be enrolled in this study. Participants
will undergo a clinical exam and then come back to the Clinical Center three times for
sessions that will last approximately 2 hours each. For each session, participants' forearms
will be immobilized and a small electronic device will be attached to each index finger so
that researchers can measure their movements. Participants will be asked to move either
index finger and to observe and concentrate on its movement. Investigators will perform
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) before and after these motor exercises. For TMS, a
wire coil is held over the scalp and a brief electrical current passes through the coil,
creating a magnetic pulse that electrically stimulates the brain.
Motor training consisting of repetition of unilateral finger movements leads to
use-dependent plasticity (UDP) in the contralateral primary motor cortex, M1, in normal
volunteers. It is conceivable that motor training in one hand, in addition to changes in the
contralateral M1, could elicit plastic changes in the ipsilateral M1. The purpose of this
study is to test this hypothesis: Training consisting of repetition of a unilateral finger
movement elicits plastic changes in the cortical representation of the homonymous untrained
finger in the ipsilateral M1. The study will be performed on normal volunteers and will
consist of three to five separate training sessions. The endpoint measure will be, for each
session, the change in the direction of the movements evoked by TMS in the untrained index
finger as a function of the opposite index finger.
use-dependent plasticity (UDP) in the contralateral primary motor cortex, M1, in normal
volunteers. It is conceivable that motor training in one hand, in addition to changes in the
contralateral M1, could elicit plastic changes in the ipsilateral M1. The purpose of this
study is to test this hypothesis: Training consisting of repetition of a unilateral finger
movement elicits plastic changes in the cortical representation of the homonymous untrained
finger in the ipsilateral M1. The study will be performed on normal volunteers and will
consist of three to five separate training sessions. The endpoint measure will be, for each
session, the change in the direction of the movements evoked by TMS in the untrained index
finger as a function of the opposite index finger.
- INCLUSION CRITERIA:
Only healthy volunteers 18 years or older will be included in this protocol. Handedness
will be assessed by the Edinburgh Inventory Scale. All experimental sessions will be
studied on outpatient basis. Normal Volunteers with right-handedness will be eligible to
participate.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
Subjects with the history of epilepsy, surgery with metallic implants or known history of
metallic particles in the eye, cardiac pacemaker, neural stimulators, cochlear implants,
history of drug abuse, psychiatric illness (depression), hypertension or use of
medications that influence synaptic plasticity, will be excluded as evaluated by the
investigator.
We found this trial at
1
site
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
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