Clinical trial NCT05465005: Perception of Electrical Stimuli in Individuals with Stroke
Official title: Perception of Electrical Stimuli During Muscle Activation in Individuals with Stroke
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stroke
Keywords: tactile perception
somatosensation
muscle activation
Lead sponsor: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Northwestern University
name: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
name: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
First posted: 2022-07-19
Enrollment: 45
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Intervention model description: We will compare outcome measures across three experimental conditions and each upper extremity in participants with stroke and similarly-aged controls.
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: To successfully manipulate objects in one's surroundings, such as when lifting a cup, one must accurately perceive their physical interactions. This includes accurately interpreting the tactile cues arising at one's fingertips when touching an object. Currently, tactile perception is assessed in individuals with stroke using passive protocols. Research has yet to explore whether activating one's muscles impacts the tactile perceptual process in individuals with stroke despite previous research demonstrating the effect of muscle activation on tactile perception in individuals who are neurologically intact. The proposed research will be the first to address the impact of muscle activation, in addition to stroke, on tactile perception. As such, the proposed research is significant for advancing our understanding of the extent to which tactile deficits occur in individuals with stroke, particularly during volitional movement.

Detailed description: Participants will detect an externally-applied electrical stimulus at their fingertip with the elbow: 1) relaxed and flexed to 2) 25% and 3) 50% of their maximum voluntary torque (MVT). We will compare the detection threshold for these three conditions between each arm of participants with stroke and similarly-aged controls. Based on pilot data, we hypothesize that the detection threshold will be largest at the paretic arm when flexing to 50% MVT due to the greatest inhibition of sensory signals. Findings will indicate whether stroke negatively impacts an individual's ability to detect tactile stimuli during volitional sensorimotor tasks.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* For the participants with stroke, i) a single unilateral cortical lesion that took place at least one year prior and ii) an absence of comorbid neurological impairments
* Ability to understand and complete the experimental tasks
* Capacity to provide informed consent
* At least 18 years of age

Exclusion Criteria:

* Major injury to either arm
* Sensory neuropathy

Primary outcomes:
measure: Detection threshold
timeFrame: ~5 minutes
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Blacksburg
country: United States
facility: Virginia Tech Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
state: Virginia
Study officials:
References:
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