VOR Suppression in Non-Gymnast Adults

October 25, 2017 updated by: Virginia Commonwealth University
The researchers hypothesize that there is a correlation between Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) performance and innate athletic skill level. A similar study was conducted in female, young adult gymnasts where a correlation was shown between VOR performance and gymnastic skill level. However, the results from this study did not suggest that VOR differences develop as a result of practice; rather that the differences in VOR may simply allow some individuals to become better performers. In this study the researchers would like to extend the population to adults both with and without a background in gymnastics to determine the natural relationship between VOR and innate athletic potential.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Sports like gymnastics, diving, and ice skating often involve rotational elements with high angular velocities. Many of these are airborne skills and have a significant element of risk. The athletes who perform these skills have to rely on sensory information from the visual and vestibular systems. It has been suggested that the vestibular system adapts to these types of inputs and the athlete no longer experiences dizziness associated with multiple rotations.

A recent Neuroscience abstract described a small study of the directional selectivity of vestibular habituation adult professional figure skaters. The results showed that figure skaters demonstrated a profound reduction in the magnitude of post-rotary nystagmus and caloric test response in their preferred direction of rotation. It was suggested that this sensitivity was a result of "habituation." The authors implied that the skaters learned to suppress vestibular receptors on the side that they turned toward. This deduction is based on patients that develop pathology on one side and learn to suppress the sensation on that side. However, we do not currently know if the developing vestibular system works the same way or if this is an inherited trait. Most of these athletes started as children, when their vestibular system was still developing, and may have a more fine-tuned vestibular system and be able to suppress certain reflexes. On the other hand, it could be that some people are born with the ability to suppress this sensation, thus allowing them to become elite athletes. Currently there isn't a defined relationship between a person's athleticism or athletic upbringing and their vestibular system performance.

A major component of vestibular performance is the Vestibular Ocular Reflex (VOR). The VOR is responsible for stabilizing the visual field on the retina during head movement. To accomplish this, the eyes are reflexively moved in a direction opposite the head. For example, in a twisting gymnast, this actually reduces the ability of gymnasts to see the landing during airborne skills. Hence, it becomes necessary for gymnasts to cancel or suppress their VOR in order to view the landing. A previous study conducted by the researchers determined that young, actively practicing gymnasts (mean age 15±2.2) had a higher ability to suppress their VOR than non-gymnasts of the same age. This previous study determined that there is a correlation between VOR performance and gymnastic skill level. However, these results do not suggest that the VOR differences develop as a result of practice.

This study aims to establish a relationship between VOR performance and athleticism. By comparing ex-gymnast adults (ages 18-30), and their age-matched, non-gymnast counterparts to the previous study results involving actively practicing, child gymnasts, a relationship between VOR performance and athletic skill can be determined. Furthermore, examining the VOR data collected from this study to data collected from tests aimed at determining athleticism, or a person's athletic potential, it may be possible to relate VOR performance to athletic skill; In other words, determining whether athletes are successful because their vestibular performance is superior to those whom are non-athletes, or it is a learned skill with practice.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
12

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Virginia
      • Richmond, Virginia, United States, 23298
        • Virginia Commonwealth University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 30 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Approximately 12 adults (6 ex-gymnastics, and 6 age matched, non-gymnast counterparts), ages 18-30 will be obtained via a sample of convenience from the University community. Subjects will be asked to wear a measurement system (Eyelink II, SR Research) that tracks head and eye movements as they perform as set of eye and head movements to measure saccadic eye movements, VOR and VOR suppression. Periodic calibrations will be performed throughout the experiment to test the continued reliability of the data.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Normal, adults will be recruited from the University community via a sample of convenience.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children under the age of 18.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
athletic background
ex-gymnasts
Behavioral: VOR and coordination measurements
measurement of VOR and VOR suppression in addition to hand-eye coordination tasks
control
age-matched non-gymnastics background
Behavioral: VOR and coordination measurements
measurement of VOR and VOR suppression in addition to hand-eye coordination tasks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) gain
Time Frame: 2 hour data collection period (Visit 1)
amplitude of head v. eye velocities
2 hour data collection period (Visit 1)
NASA Task Load Index
Time Frame: Immediately after 2 hour data collection period (Visit 1)
measure of cognitive load during task performance
Immediately after 2 hour data collection period (Visit 1)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Virginia Commonwealth University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Peter Pidcoe, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2017

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 18, 2017

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 18, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 8, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 20, 2017

First Posted (ACTUAL)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 24, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
October 26, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 25, 2017

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • HM20008030

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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