Effects of Cycling and Virtual Reality on Thinking Speed in Persons With MS (PACE-MS)

Effects of a Single Bout of Moderate Intensity Aerobic Cycling Exercise Combined With Virtual Reality on Processing Speed in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis and Mobility Disability

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT06191380

Acronym

PACE-MS

Enrollment

Registered

2024-01-05

Start date

2024-02-12

Completion date

2025-10-28

Last updated

2025-10-30

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

Conditions

Multiple Sclerosis

Keywords

Multiple Sclerosis, Leg Cycling, Virtual Reality, Mobility Disability, Processing Speed

Brief summary

To compare the effects of cycling exercise with different types of virtual reality on processing/thinking speed in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Detailed description

The purpose of this research study is to learn how different types of cycling exercise can improve short-term processing speed, or speed of thinking, in persons with MS. In this study, we will compare the effects of cycling alone to cycling with two different types of virtual reality. Participants will complete all three cycling conditions, one per week. We are studying these types of cycling because there are currently no effective treatment options to improve processing speed in persons with MS and combining exercise with virtual reality is a promising technique.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALPACE-MS

A single bout of cycling.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Masking description

Participants will be blinded to the hypothesized effect of each exercise condition.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 70 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Speak English as their primary language * Confirmed MS diagnosis by a neurologist * Be relapse and steroid-free for at least 30 days * Mild-to-moderate self-report mobility disability

Exclusion criteria

* History of neurological disorders besides MS or history of uncontrolled psychiatric disorders (ex: major depression) * Have contraindications to exercise, based on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) * Currently use medications that may impact cognition (ex: steroids, benzodiazepines) * Currently pregnant * Severe cognitive impairment as measured by the Modified Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status (TICS-M) * No indication of age-related mild cognitive impairment or dementia, based on the MOCA-Blind (i.e., MOCA-Blind ≥19). * High likelihood of motion sickness * Regular cyclist, defined as cycling for at least 150 minutes/week

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Modified Flanker Task (MFT)	Immediately before the single bout of cycling and 5 minutes after the single bout of cycling.	Response time on a computerized test is conceptualized as a measure of processing speed. Participants are tasked with identifying the direction of the central target stimulus that is flanked by either congruent (\<\<\<\<\<) or incongruent (\>\>\<\>\>) stimuli by pressing the correct keyboard key.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Baseline mobility disability	Baseline visit only	Mobility disability status will be measured with a neurological exam to get an EDSS score.
Baseline Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT)	Baseline visit only.	Processing speed will be measured with the SDMT as a more stable measure of processing speed.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026