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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT03249961

How Many Days Would You Want to Practice a Skill to Achieve it?

Practice is required to improve your shot in basketball or to play a musical instrument. The learning of these motor skills can be further enhanced by non-invasively stimulating regions of the brain that control movements with electrical currents. These electric currents can strengthen or weaken connections of the brain, which consequently affects a person's ability to improve their performance on a skill. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is widely applied in many disciplines of neuroscience research, and has potential therapeutic application. There are two specific types of NIBS that will be used in this research study: 1) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), which applies very weak electrical currents via two rubber electrodes on the scalp, and 2) Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), which applies magnetic pulses via a coil against the head, to stimulate regions of the brain. Both types of non-invasive brain stimulation (i.e., tDCS, and TMS) are well-tolerated, painless, and safe. The application of tDCS to brain regions that control movements, concurrently with practice of a skill, results in better skill performance, than practice alone with no tDCS. Therefore, in this study, we will be testing different types of brain stimulation and different amounts of practice.

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Key information

Conditions

Motor Learning

Age range

18 year–44 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center

Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthy

Exclusion criteria

  • prior history of neurological or psychiatric disease
  • prior experience with the motor task used
  • contraindications to TMS and TDCS (e.g., metal implants, history of seizures and headaches)
  • musculoskeletal injury to upper limb
  • drugs that interact with NIBS (e.g., antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants)

Treatment and study plan

Sham tDCS

Device

Placebo stimulation is applied to the left motor cortex while participants perform a motor task in the right hand. During the motor task, participants use their right hand to pinch a force transducer that controls an on-screen cursor to navigate between a start position and a sequence of 5 other positions to the right.

Anodal tDCS

Device

Excitatory stimulation is applied to the left motor cortex while participants perform a motor task in the right hand. During the motor task, participants use their right hand to pinch a force transducer that controls an on-screen cursor to navigate between a start position and a sequence of 5 other positions to the right.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Device

Participants will receive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to allow research investigators to determine the location of the left motor cortex.

Primary outcomes

  1. Accuracy

    Time frame: Up to 8 days

    Accuracy is defined as the proportion of trials per block with hits to all targets in the correct sequence order.

  2. Speed

    Time frame: Up to 8 days

    Speed is captured by the average sequence movement time per training block

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Aug 15, 2017
Registry last updated
Oct 27, 2020

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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