Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02813291

MI Practice and tDCS With Aging

The mental repetition of movements - or motor imagery (MI) practice - facilitates motor learning. It allows avoiding fatigue that occurs during physical practice; this method is thus particularly interesting for elderly people. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive method of neurostimulation during which a low direct current is applied to the brain via electrodes placed on the scalp. This method has been successfully used to enhance motor learning in both young and elderly subjects.

The main aim of this study is to assess the impact of MI practice combined with tDCS on the learning of a complex finger sequence, in young and elderly subjects.

For that purpose, young and elderly healthy subjects will be randomly assigned to Stimulation and Sham groups. There will thus be a total of four groups: Young Stim, Young Sham, Elderly Stim, and Elderly Sham.

All subjects will participate to three training sessions spread over five days, and a retention test one week after the third training session.

During training they will mentally repeat a complex finger sequence with the left hand, for 13 min:

* Subjects of the Stimulation groups (Young Stim and Elderly Stim) will receive in parallel an anodal tDCS of the primary motor cortex. * Subjects of the Sham groups (Young Sham and Elderly Sham) will receive in parallel a sham tDCS of the primary motor cortex.

Immediately before (pretest) and after (posttest) each training session, as well as during the retention test, subjects will repeat the sequence as many times of possible, for 1 min. During these tests (pretests, posttests and retention test) electroencephalographic activity will be recorded to assess the Mu rhythm power.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Aging Motor Learning

Age range

20 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Hospices Civils de Lyon - Hôpital des Charpennes - 27, rue Gabriel Péri

Villeurbanne, 69100, France

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Being aged between 20 and 35 years for the young subjects / between 65 and 80 years for the elderly subjects
  • For elderly subjects: Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) ≥ 24
  • Being a male or a female
  • Being right handed
  • Taking an effective method of contraception for the women of childbearing age
  • Having signed the consent form
  • Being registered with a social security scheme

Exclusion criteria

  • Presenting a neurologic, psychiatric or motor trouble
  • Practicing or having practiced at least 5 hours by week an activity involving a high manual dexterity (e.g. piano)
  • Showing any contraindication to tDCS:
  • History of epilepsy
  • head trauma with loss of consciousness
  • Implanted material (pacemaker, surgical clips, metal specks in the skull, etc.)
  • Past neurosurgical intervention
  • Open sore on the scalp
  • Consumption of more than three glasses of alcohol daily
  • Use of drugs
  • Pregnancy (positive pregnancy test)

Treatment and study plan

tDCS

Device

All subjects will mentally repeat a complex finger sequence with the left hand, for 13 min:

  • Subjects of the Stimulation groups (Young Stim and Elderly Stim) will receive in parallel an anodal tDCS of the primary motor cortex.

Sham tDCS

Device

All subjects will mentally repeat a complex finger sequence with the left hand, for 13 min:

  • Subjects of the Sham groups (Young Sham and Elderly Sham) will receive in parallel a sham tDCS of the primary motor cortex.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in the number of correct sequences between first pretest and retention test

    Time frame: The number of correct sequences will be assessed at pretest of the first training session (day 1) and at retention test (day 10).

    Change will be calculated using the following formulae: (number of correct sequences at retention test - number of correct sequences at first pretest) / number of correct sequences at first pretest × 100

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in the number of correct sequences between first pretest and third posttest

    Time frame: The number of correct sequences will be assessed at pretest of the first training session (day 1) and at posttest of the third training session (day 3)

    Change will be calculated using the following formulae: (number of correct sequences at third posttest - number of correct sequences at first pretest) / number of correct sequences at first pretest × 100

  2. Change in the power of the Mu rhythm between first pretest and retention test

    Time frame: The power of the Mu rhythm will be assessed at pretest of the first training session (day 1) and at retention test (day 10)

    Change will be calculated using the following formulae: (power of the Mu rhythm at retention test - power of the Mu rhythm at first pretest) / power of the Mu rhythm at first pretest × 100

  3. Change in the power of the Mu rhythm between first pretest and third posttest

    Time frame: The power of the Mu rhythm will be assessed at pretest of the first training session (day 1) and at posttest of the third session (day 3)

    Change will be calculated using the following formulae: (power of the Mu rhythm at third posttest - power of the Mu rhythm at first pretest) / power of the Mu rhythm at first pretest × 100

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Hospices Civils de Lyon

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Effects of Motor Imagery Practice Combined With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in the Learning of a Complex Motor Sequence in Young and Elderly Subjects

Acronym: MISt

Important dates

Study start
2017
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Jun 24, 2016
Registry last updated
Sep 3, 2025

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.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.