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Completed

NCT Number: NCT06815601

Neuromodulation After Spinal Cord Injury to Improve Limb Function

The University at Buffalo (UB) Department of Rehabilitation Sciences is looking for adult volunteers with and without spinal cord injuries for a study on hand movement. The goal of the study is to learn about how the brain, nerves, and muscles of the body are connected and perform everyday tasks. This may help us to develop ways to improve the hand functions of people with spinal cord injuries.

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Key information

Conditions

Spinal Cord Injury Central Nervous System Diseases Nervous System Diseases Neurologic Manifestations Paralysis Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms Spinal Cord Diseases Spinal Cord Injuries Spinal Cord Injury Cervical Trauma, Nervous System Wounds and Injuries

Age range

18 year–75 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

The Kimball Tower at The State University of New York at Buffalo

Buffalo, New York, 14214, United States

About this study

The main goal of rehabilitation strategies in humans with spinal cord injury (SCI) is to strengthen transmission in spared neural networks to restore functional movements. Recent evidence showed that neuromodulation approaches may increase the transmission in corticospinal pathway in humans with SCI and improve functional outcomes. Therefore, the investigators aim to investigate how the noninvasive brain stimulation protocols affects neuroplasticity of corticospinal pathway. Specifically, the investigators will use the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to explore its effect. The investigators will investigate the effect of short-term and long-term rTMS application in individuals with SCI.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthy adults between the ages of 18-75 years old who are right-handed
  • Adults between the ages of 18-75 years old who have had a spinal cord injury (SCI)

Exclusion criteria

For both healthy individuals and those with SCI:

  • Uncontrolled medical problems including pulmonary, cardiovascular or orthopedic disease
  • Any debilitating disease prior to the SCI that caused exercise intolerance
  • Ongoing major depression or altered cognitive status
  • Metal plate in skull
  • History of seizures
  • Receiving drugs acting primarily on the central nervous system, which lower the seizure threshold such as antipsychotic drugs
  • Pregnant females

Treatment and study plan

rTMS

Other

Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) will be utilized since they have been reported to have a cortical neuromodulatory effect. The iTBS protocol will be applied over primary motor cortex to investigate its effect on corticospinal excitability and functional outcome. Theta burst stimulation (TBS) consists of bursts of pulses containing 3 pulses at 50 Hz (3 pulses per second) repeated at 200 ms intervals (5 Hz). During iTBS, a 2 second train of TBS is repeated every 10 seconds (600 pulses in 190 seconds).

Other names: iTBS

Sham rTMS

Other

Sham iTBS protocols will be applied with the same parameters as in iTBS protocol. However, sham coil will be used.

Other names: Sham iTBS, Sham stimulation

motor training

Behavioral

The motor training will be focused on participant's hand motor function such as grasping function.

Other names: Exercise training, Hand training

Primary outcomes

  1. Motor Evoked Potentials (MEP)

    Time frame: For "rTMS" and "Sham rTMS", the time frame will be one day, before and after each session. For "rTMS with motor training", MEPs will be measured twice, before the start of the first session and after the 10th session, at 4 weeks.

    Transcranial magnetic stimuli (TMS) will be delivered through a figure-of-eight coil over primary motor cortex to the optimal scalp position for activation of hand muscles. The optimal scalp position will be determined by moving the coil in small steps along the hand representations of the primary motor cortex to find the region where the largest MEP can be evoked with the minimum intensity in the targeted muscle. Twenty MEPs will be collected and the peak-to-peak amplitude of MEP measured in millivolts will be averaged across trials. MEPs will be collected before (pre) and after (post) each intervention and the post-MEP amplitude will be normalized by pre-MEP amplitude. Therefore, the MEP outcomes reported will be "(post-MEP/pre-MEP)x100".

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

State University of New York at Buffalo

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2025
First posted
Feb 7, 2025
Registry last updated
Sep 8, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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