Grasp rehabilitation with motor imagery after spinal cord injury

In quadriplegic patients with chronic non-evolutive motor impairments does motor rehabilitation including mental training with motor imagery improve residual upper limb motor functions through the induction of cerebral reorganizations potentially reflected during motor imagery?

Status

Not yet recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12612001030864

Enrollment

Registered

2012-09-25

Start date

2012-10-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Grasp function is severely impaired after quadriplegia elicited by traumatic spinal cord injury. Patients can learn a modified type of grasp called tenodesis, where pinch grip is generated by active wrist extension (a movement spared by the lesion below the C6-C7 level). We investigate whether mental training with motor imagery can improve tenodesis grasp function in quadriplegic patients. Using magnetoencephalography, we seek to delineate whether mental training can induce cerebral reorganizations enabling functional motor recovery. We also investigate whether the neural networks mediating motor imagery are reorganized due to motor rehabilitation with mental training.

Interventions

Mental practice with motor imagery, whereby participants visualise themselves grasping objects. Different motor imagery modalities are used (e.g. visual, kinesthetic, etc.) focusing various tenodesis grasping skills (e.g. different seizes of objects, contralateral and ipsilateral tenodesis grasping actions.. etc.). Administration mode: one-on-one supervision by a physiotherapist. Frequency and duration of mental practice sessions: SCI patients underwent 3×30 minutes sessions per week for 5 weeks

Study design

Allocation

Non-randomised trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Open (masking not used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 55 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

(i) Quadriplegia elicited by traumatic SCI at the C6/C7 level (ii) Complete infra-lesional motor deficit (score < 20/100 on the ASIA impairment scale) (iii) Time post-injury superior or equal to 6 months, with non-evolutive general, motor and sensory deficit

Exclusion criteria

(i) Non-stabilized HTN or pathological autonomous nervous system dysfunction (e.g. orthostatic hypotension) (ii) Cerebral damage and/or cognitive deficit (iii) Elbow or shoulder joint amplitude restriction, upper limb para osteo-arthropathy (iv)Presence of metallic objects within the body (e.g. pacemaker, auditory device) incompatible with neuroimaging recordings (v) Participation to another research program

Outcome results