Neuroplasticity in Blind Subjects After Repetitive Tactile Stimulation

NCT01754103 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: VISION TACTIL
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 24
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Brain plasticity of cortical activity caused by repetitive tactile stimulation could have a progressive development that was from primary parietal areas, passing over parieto-occipital areas and came secondary to primary occipital areas. This process allows to understand the existence of neurons in the brain and specific areas for certain functions independent of the type of stimulation is performed. By performing repetitive tactile stimulation over a period of 3 months,using a tactile stimulator, our group will try to prove several that repetitive tactile stimulation can create cross-modality and improve recognition and localization of patterns in blind people.

Conditions

Blindness

Keywords

blind; tactile stimulation; cross-modality; visual qualia; resting state MRI; functional connectivity; neuroplasticity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• MRI Functional Connectivity of the visual pathway

  Functional Connectivity analysis (fcMRI) is a tool that allows functionally associated brain regions to be identified. fcMRI takes advantage of the observation that the brain regions exhibit spontaneous, low frequency variations as measured using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) imaging.

  1 year

Study Arms (1)

Functional Connectivity MRI

EXPERIMENTAL

Functional Connectivity will be measured by MRI, we will perform one T1WI run as well as three resting state bold based runs. Bold runs parameters: TE 30ms, TR 3000ms, flip angle 90º, gap 0mm, 124 time points, voxel size 3mm, duration 6min18s each, FOV 240x240x141.

Other: Tactile Training

Interventions

Tactile Training OTHER

Tactile Training to induce neuroplasticity in the visual pathway, measured with functional connectivity MRI

Functional Connectivity MRI

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Clinical Diagnosis: Different Causes of blindness were diverse: congenital nystagmus, glaucoma, retinopathy, congenital cataracts, lenticular fibroplasia, macular degeneration, optic atrophy, Peter's anomaly with microphthalmia, retinal detachment, retina necrosis, retinitis pigmentosa and uveitis

You may not qualify if:

• No history of neurological, psychiatric, cognitive or sensorimotor deficits other than blindness.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad Complutense de Madrid: lead
• Harvard University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Madrid, Madrid, 28040, Spain

RECRUITING

Related Publications (22)

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MeSH Terms

Conditions

Blindness

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Vision Disorders; Sensation Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Eye Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Tomás Ortiz Alonso, MD PhD

  Universidad Complutense de Madrid

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Tomas Ortiz Alonso, MD, PhD

CONTACT

+34 91 394 1495; tortiz@med.ucm.es

Laura Ortiz Teran, MD, PhD

CONTACT

teran@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: MD PhD

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 2, 2012
• First Posted: December 21, 2012
• Study Start: January 1, 2012
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2013
• Study Completion: December 1, 2014
• Last Updated: December 21, 2012

Record last verified: 2012-12

Locations

ES (1)