Spinal Cord Injury
Conditions
Keywords
spinal cord injury, neuroimaging, cognition, executive functions
Brief summary
In the case of spinal cord injury, rehabilitation is particularly focused on motor skills. Non-motor impairments such as thinking difficulties did not receive a lot of attention to date. In this research project, the investigators want to find out how thinking difficulties become noticeable in the brain with spinal cord injury. Participation procedure: Participants who take part will be asked to come to an examination once. The duration of the examination is between 2 and 2.5 hours (including around 55 minutes in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner, including preparation and follow-up).
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil
Study design
Observational model
CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
(with and without spinal cord injury): * Male or Female * Age between 18 and 60 * German native speaker * Normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity Additional inclusion criteria (spinal cord injury only): * A diagnosis of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) * Time since injury 12 months or longer * American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade A, B, C and D
Exclusion criteria
(with and without spinal cord injury): * Contraindication for magnetic resonance imaging examinations (e.g., cardiac pacemaker etc.) * Pregnancy * Diagnosis of other psychiatric or neurological disorders (including tumor in the central nervous system) * Alcohol and/or drug abuse * Confirmed diagnosis of traumatic brain injury * Insufficient hand function (not able to hold a pen due to the restricted motor abilities)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Brain activity | Baseline | Brain activity defined as changes in oxygen levels in the blood during the execution of cognitive tasks on cognitive inhibition and verbal fluency (executive functions), and at rest |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Brain morphometry | Baseline | Volume of brain structures in cubic millimetres |
| Level of life satisfaction | Baseline | Satisfaction with Life Scale (validated questionnaire assessing life satisfaction) |
| Level of anxiety | Baseline | State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (validated questionnaire assessing anxiety) |
| Level of pain | Baseline | Validated questionnaire assessing pain severity |
| Behavioral performance | Baseline | Accuracy on cognitive inhibition task (in percentage) |
| Level of attention and awareness | Baseline | Mindful Attention and Awareness scale (validated questionnaire assessing level of attention and awareness) |
| Motor symptom severity | Baseline | Motor symptoms severity (from level A to E) based on the International Standards for Neurological Classification of spinal cord injury (ISNCSCI) |
| Demographics | Baseline | Demographic information such as age, sex and education level, as well as time since injury |
| Quality of sleep | Baseline | Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (validated questionnaire assessing sleep quality) |
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed