Motor Recovery in Recent Stroke Patients Treated With Amphetamine and Physical Therapy

The purpose of this study is to determine if administration of dextroamphetamine (amph) linked with customarily used Rehabilitation Medicine accelerates motor recovery after stroke. Additionally, if motor recovery occurs, this study will allow identification of the brain regions activated in association with this recovery.

Techniques used will include longitudinal rating of motor function, neuro-imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance tomography (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Patients will be assigned to one of the two groups: amph linked with PT, and placebo linked with PT. Every patient will receive the standard of care PT. Motor recovery will be evaluated in the two groups. If motor recovery is accelerated in any of the groups, then neuroimaging and neurophysiological data will allow identification of areas and networks in the brain associated with this recovery.

This is a Phase II study with potential major impact on how stroke patients are treated.

Inclusion criteria

Hemiparetic patients (right or left) (defined as a score of 55 or lower on Fugl-Meyer Scale) who had a single thromboembolic non-hemorrhagic infarction (documented by CT or MRI) 5 to 30 days before.

Patients will be recruited from referrals from the community particularly from Suburban Hospital.

Exclusion criteria

Large hemorrhagic or brain stem stroke.

Multiple cerebral lesions with residual deficits.

Less than 5 days after stroke or greater than 30 days after stroke.

Age younger than 18 or older than 80 years.

History of head injury with loss of consciousness.

Terminal illness such as AIDS or cancer.

Severe neurological diseases other than stroke.

History of severe alcohol or drug abuse.

History of psychiatric illness.

Unstable cardiac dysrhythmia or unresponsive arterial hypertension (greater than 160/100 mmHg).

Untreated hyperthyroidism.

Receiving alpha-adrenergic antagonists or agonists.

Receiving major/minor tranquilizers, clonidine, prazosin, phenytoin, GABA, benzodiazepines, scopolamine, haloperidol, other neuroleptics, barbituates.

Degree of aphasia or cognitive deficit that makes patients unable to give informed consent.

Pregnancy. A pregnancy test will be done on admission.