NCT00083642

Observational Learning in Stroke Patients

Completed Last updated 2 July 2017

What this trial tests

trial in Stroke in 60 participants. Completed in 13 June 2008.

Timeline

25 May 2004

13 June 2008

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Status	Completed
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	60
Start date	25 May 2004
Estimated completion	13 June 2008
Sites	1 location across United States

Conditions studied

• Stroke — all drugs for Stroke →

Sponsor

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Who can join

Adults 18 to 75, any sex, with Stroke. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

This study will determine how people who have had a stroke learn to perform a movement by observation, as compared with people who have not had a stroke. Normally, a person learns a new hand movement automatically by observing the movement performed by others. Improvement with practice also relies on visual feedback. This "observational training" - i.e., the repeated observation of a movement - is sufficient for normal individuals to learn a movement. This study will examine brain activity related to motor learning in stroke patients and in healthy control subjects to see whether stroke patients process visual-motor information the same way normal subjects do.

Normal volunteers and stroke patients between 18 and 75 years of age may be eligible for this study. Patients must have had paralysis on one side of the body due to a stroke that occurred at least 3 months before entering the study. Candidates who have not had a recent health screening will have a clinical and neurological examination.

Participants undergo the following procedures:

* Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), if one has not been done recently. This test uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. The subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the cylindrical scanner and wears earplugs to muffle loud noises caused by switching of magnetic fields. Scanning time varies from 20 minutes to 3 hours, with most sessions lasting 45 to 90 minutes.
* Task training. The subject practices the task to be performed during functional MRI (see below). The subject makes finger tapping movements, then watches finger movements on a video screen for several minutes, during which time the movie stops from time to time without warning. When the movie stops, the subject must reproduce the last finger movement that appeared on the screen. During this session, the electrical signals of the subject's forearm muscles are recorded at the skin surface. This session lasts up to 3 hours.
* Functional MRI. The subject undergoes MRI scanning while performing the same tasks done in the training session. This session lasts about 3 hours.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.