NCT04594148

The Effect of Training on Brain Activity During Postural Tasks in Older Adults

Completed NA Last updated 19 October 2022

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Weight-shift training in Healthy Aging in 43 participants. Completed in 16 June 2021.

Timeline

8 February 2021

Primary endpoint
16 June 2021

16 June 2021

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	KU Leuven
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	43
Start date	8 February 2021
Primary completion	16 June 2021
Estimated completion	16 June 2021
Sites	1 location across Belgium

Drugs / interventions tested

• Weight-shift training

Conditions studied

• Healthy Aging — all drugs for Healthy Aging →

Sponsor

KU Leuven — full company profile →

Who can join

65 and older, any sex, with Healthy Aging. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Older people show deficits in dynamic weight-shifting, as the investigators found that more time is needed to perform weight-shifts and the movements became less fluent and accurate in older versus younger adults. Deficits with weight-shifting in the mediolateral (left-right) direction have been linked to balance and falls in ageing. Balance control can be improved with training. Virtual reality (VR) based training programs for improving balance are gaining ground, as it can provide both fun and challenging balance tasks, enhancing motivation. The investigators demonstrated earlier that older adults show an overloaded neural activation pattern compared to young adults when performing the same VR-based mediolateral weight-shifting task (wasp game). What is yet unclear, is whether improved balance capacity can be gained with training and whether such an intervention impacts the underlying neural mechanisms. Using a combination of behavioral assessments and functional Near-Infrared Spectrocopy (fNIRS), the primary aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a VR-based weight-shift training and its underlying neural imprint in older adults. Furthermore, as a previous study done by the investigators also showed that adding an extra cognitive task in a so-called dual-task (DT) negatively affects weight-shifting performance, a secondary aim will be to test whether weight-shift training will enhance performance during such DT conditions. The results of this study may contribute to the future design of technology-based rehabilitation programs.

Publications & conference data

2 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Test-retest reliability of functional near-infrared spectroscopy during a finger-tapping and postural task in healthy older adults.
   de Rond V, Gilat M, D'Cruz N, Hulzinga F, et al · · 2023 · cited 15× · PMID 37250101 · DOI 10.1117/1.nph.10.2.025010
2. Neural correlates of weight-shift training in older adults: a randomized controlled study.
   de Rond V, D'Cruz N, Hulzinga F, McCrum C, et al · · 2023 · cited 3× · PMID 37949995 · DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-46645-4