Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-05 @ 11:34 AM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 9:09 AM
Study NCT ID:
NCT00076466
Status:
COMPLETED
Last Update Posted:
2017-07-02
First Post:
2004-01-22
Brief Title:
Brain Changes Associated With Learning a Motor Task
Sponsor:
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke NINDS
Organization:
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center CC
Study Overview
Official Title:
Changes in Intracortical Inhibitory Processes Are Associated With the Development of Implicit Learning of a Motor Task
Status:
COMPLETED
Status Verified Date:
2009-01-14
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
This study will determine 1 whether learning a task with the dominant hand is accompanied by changes in the area of the brain that controls hand movement and 2 how the brain is able to make these changes Previous studies have shown that practicing a motor task can change brain excitability but it is not known how well brain excitabilities are changed during motor learning This study will measure changes in activity of the part of the brain that controls hand movement before during and after exercising the hand on a response pad
Healthy normal volunteers between 18 and 40 years of age may be eligible for this study Candidates who have not been evaluated at NIH within the past year will be screened with a brief interview about their current state of health and clinical and neurological examinations Participants will undergo the following procedures
Learning a finger movementreaction time task
For this procedure participants sit in front of a computer monitor with the index middle ring and little fingers placed flat on four corresponding buttons of a response pad They are asked to press one of the four buttons as fast as they can in response to an asterisk displayed on the monitor The position of the asterisk indicates which button to push Subjects perform nine sets of 120-button pushes with a 15-minute rest between each set During the rest period subjects undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation described below which causes twitches in the hand muscles The electrical activity corresponding to the twitches is recorded by attaching electrodes small metal disks to the skin over the hand muscles
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
For this test an insulated wire coil is held over the scalp A brief electrical current passes through the coil creating a magnetic pulse that electrically stimulates the brain The subject hears a click and may feel a pulling sensation on the scalp under the coil The stimulation may also cause twitching in the muscles of the face arm or leg During the stimulation the subject may be asked to tense certain muscles slightly or perform other simple actions
Healthy normal volunteers between 18 and 40 years of age may be eligible for this study Candidates who have not been evaluated at NIH within the past year will be screened with a brief interview about their current state of health and clinical and neurological examinations Participants will undergo the following procedures
Learning a finger movementreaction time task
For this procedure participants sit in front of a computer monitor with the index middle ring and little fingers placed flat on four corresponding buttons of a response pad They are asked to press one of the four buttons as fast as they can in response to an asterisk displayed on the monitor The position of the asterisk indicates which button to push Subjects perform nine sets of 120-button pushes with a 15-minute rest between each set During the rest period subjects undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation described below which causes twitches in the hand muscles The electrical activity corresponding to the twitches is recorded by attaching electrodes small metal disks to the skin over the hand muscles
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
For this test an insulated wire coil is held over the scalp A brief electrical current passes through the coil creating a magnetic pulse that electrically stimulates the brain The subject hears a click and may feel a pulling sensation on the scalp under the coil The stimulation may also cause twitching in the muscles of the face arm or leg During the stimulation the subject may be asked to tense certain muscles slightly or perform other simple actions
Detailed Description:
Objective We aim to show that the development of implicit knowledge of a motor task is associated with decrease in intracortical GABA-related inhibition ICI in the trained muscles accompanying increasing MEP amplitudes and increase in ICI in non-trained neighboring muscles and that after the knowledge becomes explicit ICI modifications become less prominent
It would be useful to know the role of ICI during learning As some interventions or drugs are known to modify GABA activity this study may even provide a rationale for using these interventions and drugs to enhance plastic changes in patients with impaired motor learning capabilities
Several studies have shown that learning a motor task with one hand can be transferred to the contralateral hand 37 43 45 46 47 Studies have demonstrated that learning a finger sequence task Serial Reaction Time test SRTT with the dominant-hand trained can be transferred to the contralateral hand un-trained 434950 In this additional experiment we propose to investigate the effect of disrupting M1 by using 1 Hz TMS inhibitory effect on motor learning in the trained hand dominant and in the un-trained hand non-dominant Evidence has shown that there is transcallosal connections between M1 of both hemispheres 40 Since M1 is active during implicit learning 41 42 we expect 1 Hz TMS stimulation inhibitory effect over M1 will deteriorate implicit learning in the trained hand dominant as well as in the un-trained hand non-dominant This will be evaluated by assessing their effect on reaction times and accuracy of motor performance in both hands
Study Population 72 healthy volunteers aged 18-40 will participate in the study Subjects will be randomly assigned to either the test session or the control session
Design Subjects will complete a unique session They will perform a serial-reaction-time task The subjects will be instructed to push a button on a 4-button pad in response to a visual GO signal which can appear at 4 different positions using the appropriate digit and the appropriate button There will be 9 blocks of 120 trials each In the test group in blocks 1 4 and 7 the Go signal appears in a random order in blocks 2-3 5-6 and 8-9 the same 12-trial sequence is repeated 10 times In the control group Go signals will appear in a random order in all blocks Subjects wont be informed about the sequence but will be asked to notify anything they noticed about the task If they do notice and report about a sequence they will be considered as having explicit knowledge Between each block subjects will receive transcranial magnetic stimulations to assess ICI ICI will be assessed on subjects at rest
Outcome Measures Behavioral effect of the motor training will be assessed by measuring the mean reaction times RT for digits II and V and the percentage of correct responses for each block
Implicit learning will be assessed by the difference in RTs between block 3 and 4 and between block 6 and 7 Time at which explicit learning occurs will be assessed by verbal report and the degree of explicit learning by the number of correct items when repeating the sequence
Implicit learning will be assessed in the trained hand dominant see above and in the un-trained hand The un-trained hand will be tested by asking subjects to repeat two random blocks familiarization and two sequence blocks One of these sequence blocks is a repetition of the same sequence that they learned with the dominant hand The other sequence block is a new sequence containing the same number of characters as the previous sequence Implicit learning on the un-trained hand will be assessed by the difference in RTs between random block and the sequence block In addition implicit learning on the un-trained hand will be evaluated by testing the difference between the two sequence blocks repeated by the un-trained hand The time at which explicit learning occurs will be assessed by verbal report and the degree of explicit learning by the number of correct items when repeating the sequence
Intracortical inhibitory processes will be assessed by measuring the amount of ICI in trained muscles first dorsal interosseus FDI and adductor digit minimi ADM and a non-trained muscle opponens pollicis brevis OPB
It would be useful to know the role of ICI during learning As some interventions or drugs are known to modify GABA activity this study may even provide a rationale for using these interventions and drugs to enhance plastic changes in patients with impaired motor learning capabilities
Several studies have shown that learning a motor task with one hand can be transferred to the contralateral hand 37 43 45 46 47 Studies have demonstrated that learning a finger sequence task Serial Reaction Time test SRTT with the dominant-hand trained can be transferred to the contralateral hand un-trained 434950 In this additional experiment we propose to investigate the effect of disrupting M1 by using 1 Hz TMS inhibitory effect on motor learning in the trained hand dominant and in the un-trained hand non-dominant Evidence has shown that there is transcallosal connections between M1 of both hemispheres 40 Since M1 is active during implicit learning 41 42 we expect 1 Hz TMS stimulation inhibitory effect over M1 will deteriorate implicit learning in the trained hand dominant as well as in the un-trained hand non-dominant This will be evaluated by assessing their effect on reaction times and accuracy of motor performance in both hands
Study Population 72 healthy volunteers aged 18-40 will participate in the study Subjects will be randomly assigned to either the test session or the control session
Design Subjects will complete a unique session They will perform a serial-reaction-time task The subjects will be instructed to push a button on a 4-button pad in response to a visual GO signal which can appear at 4 different positions using the appropriate digit and the appropriate button There will be 9 blocks of 120 trials each In the test group in blocks 1 4 and 7 the Go signal appears in a random order in blocks 2-3 5-6 and 8-9 the same 12-trial sequence is repeated 10 times In the control group Go signals will appear in a random order in all blocks Subjects wont be informed about the sequence but will be asked to notify anything they noticed about the task If they do notice and report about a sequence they will be considered as having explicit knowledge Between each block subjects will receive transcranial magnetic stimulations to assess ICI ICI will be assessed on subjects at rest
Outcome Measures Behavioral effect of the motor training will be assessed by measuring the mean reaction times RT for digits II and V and the percentage of correct responses for each block
Implicit learning will be assessed by the difference in RTs between block 3 and 4 and between block 6 and 7 Time at which explicit learning occurs will be assessed by verbal report and the degree of explicit learning by the number of correct items when repeating the sequence
Implicit learning will be assessed in the trained hand dominant see above and in the un-trained hand The un-trained hand will be tested by asking subjects to repeat two random blocks familiarization and two sequence blocks One of these sequence blocks is a repetition of the same sequence that they learned with the dominant hand The other sequence block is a new sequence containing the same number of characters as the previous sequence Implicit learning on the un-trained hand will be assessed by the difference in RTs between random block and the sequence block In addition implicit learning on the un-trained hand will be evaluated by testing the difference between the two sequence blocks repeated by the un-trained hand The time at which explicit learning occurs will be assessed by verbal report and the degree of explicit learning by the number of correct items when repeating the sequence
Intracortical inhibitory processes will be assessed by measuring the amount of ICI in trained muscles first dorsal interosseus FDI and adductor digit minimi ADM and a non-trained muscle opponens pollicis brevis OPB
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
None
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None
Secondary IDs
| Secondary ID | Type | Domain | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04-N-0103 | None | None | None |