The Effects of an Acute High-intensity Exercise on Heart and Brain Function in People With Spinal Cord Injury

NCT06274658 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: STUDY00006517
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The heart and brain are regulated by the autonomic nervous system. Control of these organs can be disrupted in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). This may affect their ability to regulate blood pressure during daily activities and process the high-level information. Previous studies show that high-intensity exercise induces better outcomes on heart and information processing ability in non-injured people compared to moderate-intensity exercise. However, it is unknown the effects of high-intensity exercise on heart and brain function in people with SCI. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of a single bout of high-intensity interval training on heart and brain function in this people with SCI compared to age- and sex-matched non-injured controls.

Conditions

Autonomic Nervous System Disease; Spinal Cord Injuries; Cognition

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Low frequency of systolic blood pressure variability

  Biomarker for autonomic nervous system function

  Baseline, Physiological tests pre- and 10 minutes post-exercise

• High frequency of heart rate variability

  Biomarker for autonomic nervous system function

  Baseline, Physiological tests pre- and 10 minutes post-exercise

• Blood pressure

  Biomarker for autonomic nervous system function

  Baseline, Physiological tests pre- and 10 minutes post-exercise

• Heart rate

  Biomarker for autonomic nervous system function

  Baseline, Physiological tests pre- and 10 minutes post-exercise

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Cerebral blood flow velocity

  Baseline, cognitive tests pre- and 10-minutes post-exercise

• Symbol Digit Matched Test score

  Baseline, cognitive tests pre- and 10-minutes post-exercise

• California Verbal Learning Test score

  Baseline, cognitive tests pre- and 10-minutes post-exercise

• Color-Word Stroop Test score

  Baseline, cognitive tests pre- and 10-minutes post-exercise

• Controlled Word Association Task score

  Baseline, cognitive tests pre- and 10-minutes post-exercise

Study Arms (2)

Spinal Cord Injury

This group includes people with spinal cord injury and the level of injury is at the 6th thoracic vertebra or above.

Behavioral: High-intensity interval exercise

Non-injured Controls

This group includes age- and sex-matched non-injured control participants.

Behavioral: High-intensity interval exercise

Interventions

High-intensity interval exercise BEHAVIORAL

Three high-intensity exercise bouts, each at 100% of maximal power output for 20 seconds, interspersed with active recovery periods of 120 seconds at 10% of maximal power output.

Non-injured Controls; Spinal Cord Injury

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

This study will include people with SCI with level of injury T6 or above and age- and sex-matched non-injured controls.

You may qualify if:

• Diagnosed with a traumatic or non-traumatic spinal cord injury and have ≥4/5 strength in at least one cervical 5 myotome (elbow flexors), allowing to utilize the arm ergometer and level of injury at or above the 6th thoracic vertebra
• Classified as A, B, C, D (motor and sensory complete or incomplete) on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS)
• Longer than 6 months post the onset of injury and have been discharged to the community from inpatient rehabilitation prior to enrollment
• English is the first language
• At least one of the cerebral arteries (i.e., middle cerebral artery and/or posterior cerebral artery) can be found via transcranial Doppler

You may not qualify if:

• Medical conditions that preclude exercise, such as unstable angina, uncontrolled arrhythmias, a recent history of congestive heart failure that has not been evaluated and effectively treated, severe valvular disease, uncontrolled hypertension (i.e., resting systolic blood pressure ≥ 160 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 105 mmHg)
• Moderate-severe traumatic brain injury
• Diabetes
• Color blindness
• Pre-existing shoulder injuries
• Pregnancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• State University of New York at Buffalo: lead

Study Sites (1)

University at Buffalo, South Campus

Buffalo, New York, 14214, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Ji W, Wecht JM, Jo HJ, Stefanovic F, Miecznikowski J, Chiaravalloti ND, Sisto SA. Effects of a single bout of high-intensity-interval exercise on cardiovascular autonomic, cerebrovascular, and cognitive function in people with spinal cord injury: A study protocol. PLoS One. 2025 Jul 1;20(7):e0326861. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326861. eCollection 2025.

  PMID: 40591703 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Spinal Cord Injuries

Interventions

High-Intensity Interval Training

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Spinal Cord Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Trauma, Nervous System; Wounds and Injuries

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Physical Conditioning, Human; Exercise; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Wenjie Ji, MS

  University at Buffalo

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 13, 2024
• First Posted: February 23, 2024
• Study Start: February 14, 2024
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2025
• Study Completion: July 31, 2025
• Last Updated: September 3, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Locations

US (1)