NCT01143649

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether noninvasive brain stimulation associated with motor learning offers an additional benefit than motor learning alone in patients with stroke. The investigators hypothesis is that active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) will induce a greater motor function improvement as compared with sham tDCS combined with CIMT.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
44

participants targeted

Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable stroke

Timeline
Completed

Started Apr 2010

Longer than P75 for not_applicable stroke

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

April 1, 2010

Completed
19 days until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

April 20, 2010

Completed
2 months until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

June 14, 2010

Completed
10 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

April 1, 2011

Completed
4.8 years until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

January 1, 2016

Completed
1.2 years until next milestone

Results Posted

Study results publicly available

March 6, 2017

Completed
Last Updated

April 24, 2020

Status Verified

April 1, 2020

Enrollment Period

1 year

First QC Date

April 20, 2010

Results QC Date

August 27, 2014

Last Update Submit

April 22, 2020

Conditions

Keywords

StrokeTranscranial direct current stimulationMotor function

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

  • Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test

    Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test: measures hand function in real-life activities, by evaluating the time required to perform 7 different tasks. We used the non-cronstrained hand for the assessments. The sum of the different tasks was used for the analysis.

    2 weeks

  • Cortical Excitability

    Motor evoked potential (MEP) Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), MEP were recorded before and after tDCS (both active and sham). The percentage of change in MEP (post versus pre intervention) between the two groups (active and sham) were used for the comparison.

    1 hour

  • Cortical Oscillations - EEG

    Recording took place in a dim-lighted room set up with acoustic and electric isolation. EEG was acquired from 64-channels HydroCel Geodesic Sensor Net (Electrical Geodesic Inc., Eugene, OH) and recorded using Net Station running on a MacIntosh G4 computer. Alpha power were used as the main outcome measure. The difference values (e.g., post minus pre tACS) were used for the analysis. The alpha frequency is a brain oscillation that takes place especially when subjects are in a relaxed state, especially eyes closed. In the motor cortex, a decrease in alpha power has been seen during motor performance. Therefore, it could be speculated that a decrease in power in this study would indicate more engagement in motor cortex during the motor performance.

    15 minutes

Study Arms (6)

active tDCS + CIMT - stroke patients

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive 5 sessions of tDCS over the primary motor cortex (M1). We will use the following stimulation parameters: intensity of 1mA and for the first 40 minutes of constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT - 10 consecutive sessions Monday- Friday).

Device: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)Procedure: constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT)

active tDCS + CIMT - Healthy

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive one session of tDCS over the primary motor cortex (M1). We will use the following stimulation parameters: intensity of 1mA and for the first 40 minutes of constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT)

Device: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)Procedure: constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT)

tACS - Healthy Subjects

EXPERIMENTAL

The investigators will have 40 healthy subjects who will undergo one session of treatment with active tACS (in which the order in which they receive either sham or active transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) stimulation will be randomized).

Device: transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)

sham tDCS + CIMT - stroke patients

SHAM COMPARATOR

Participants will receive 5 sessions of tDCS over the primary motor cortex (M1). We will use the following stimulation parameters: intensity of 1mA and for the first 40 minutes of constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT - 10 consecutive sessions Monday- Friday). For the sham session, tDCS is turned off after 30seconds.

Device: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)Procedure: constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT)

sham tDCS + CIMT - Healthy

SHAM COMPARATOR

Participants will receive one session of tDCS over the primary motor cortex (M1). We will use the following stimulation parameters: intensity of 1mA and for the first 40 minutes of constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT). The sham stimulation consists of 30 seconds of stimulation at the beginning of the 40 min of treatment.

Device: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)Procedure: constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT)

sham tACS - Healthy Subjects

SHAM COMPARATOR

The investigators will have 40 healthy subjects who will undergo one day of treatment with sham tACS. All participants received active and sham stimulation in a randomized order.

Device: transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)

Interventions

Subjects will be stimulated at 1 mA for 40 minutes.

active tDCS + CIMT - Healthyactive tDCS + CIMT - stroke patientssham tDCS + CIMT - Healthysham tDCS + CIMT - stroke patients
active tDCS + CIMT - Healthyactive tDCS + CIMT - stroke patientssham tDCS + CIMT - Healthysham tDCS + CIMT - stroke patients

Subjects will be stimulated at 15Hz for 20 minutes.

sham tACS - Healthy SubjectstACS - Healthy Subjects

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years - 90 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • All subjects must be between the ages of 18-90 and must not be pregnant.
  • Additional Entry criteria for Stroke subject enrollment:
  • First-time clinical ischemic or hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident - evidenced by a radiological (or physician's) report;
  • Weakness, defined as score of less than 55 (out of 66) on arm motor Fugl-Meyer (FM) scale
  • Stroke onset \>6 months prior to study enrollment.

You may not qualify if:

  • Significant pre-stroke disability;
  • Major depression, as defined by Hamilton Depression (HAM-D) scale grater then or equal 17 if needed (history of depression before the stroke);
  • Any substantial decrease in alertness, language reception, or attention that might interfere with understanding instructions for motor testing;
  • Excessive pain in any joint of the paretic extremity (not applicable to severe stroke subjects);
  • Contraindications to single pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) (TMS will be used to measure cortical excitability) such as metal head implants
  • history of seizures
  • unexplained loss of consciousness
  • metal in the head
  • frequent or severe headaches or neck pain
  • implanted brain medical devices.
  • Contraindications to tDCS
  • metal in the head
  • implanted brain medical devices
  • Advanced liver, kidney, cardiac, or pulmonary disease;
  • A terminal medical diagnosis consistent with survival \< 1 year;
  • +8 more criteria

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

  • Elsner B, Kugler J, Pohl M, Mehrholz J. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for improving activities of daily living, and physical and cognitive functioning, in people after stroke. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 Nov 11;11(11):CD009645. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD009645.pub4.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stroke

Interventions

Transcranial Direct Current StimulationConstraint Induced Movement Therapy

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Cerebrovascular DisordersBrain DiseasesCentral Nervous System DiseasesNervous System DiseasesVascular DiseasesCardiovascular Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Electric Stimulation TherapyTherapeuticsConvulsive TherapyPsychiatric Somatic TherapiesBehavioral Disciplines and ActivitiesElectroshockPsychological TechniquesExercise TherapyPhysical Therapy ModalitiesRehabilitation

Results Point of Contact

Title
Dr. Felipe Fregni
Organization
Laboratory of Neuromodulation and Center of Clinical Research Training. Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Study Officials

  • Felipe Fregni, PhD

    Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

PI is Sponsor Employee
No
Restrictive Agreement
No

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
DOUBLE
Who Masked
PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

April 20, 2010

First Posted

June 14, 2010

Study Start

April 1, 2010

Primary Completion

April 1, 2011

Study Completion

January 1, 2016

Last Updated

April 24, 2020

Results First Posted

March 6, 2017

Record last verified: 2020-04

Locations