Mental effort in muscle strengthening in Aging and Muscle Strength - Clinical Trials Registry

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Behavioral: Mental effort in muscle strengthening

Detailed Description

Training that involves heavy loads or resistance strengthens muscles. Recent data suggest that substantial voluntary strength gains can be achieved with training involving low resistance and strong mental effort. In contrast, individuals who train with the same low intensity contractions but with low mental effort show no improvement in strength.

This study will evaluate the relationship between mental effort muscle strength improvements by comparing the improvement in muscle strength in participants who have trained with different levels of mental effort. In addition to evaluating muscle strength, this study will also examine the neural mechanisms underlying muscle strength improvements.

Four groups of volunteers (65 years old and over) will participate in a training program directed at elbow-flexor muscles. One group will be trained with an intensity near the level of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC group); a second group will be trained with high mental effort, low muscle intensity contractions (HME group); a third group will be trained with low mental effort, low muscle intensity elbow-flexion contractions (LME group); and the fourth (control) group will not be trained but will participate in the strength tests. Training will be performed every weekday for 12 weeks. Participants will be evaluated by functional MRI (fMRI), EEG-derived motor activity-related cortical potential (MRCP), surface EMG signals, and the MRI T2 relaxation time.

Preliminary analysis of results shows that the HME group gained more than 13% strength, the LME group showed a statistically insignificant 6% change, and the no-practice control group did not show any change in elbow flexor muscle strength. We expect the MVC group to have the highest strength gains among the four groups.

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 1

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
- Ohio
  - Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44195
    - Cleveland Clinic

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

Ages Eligible for Study

65 years and older (OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

Healthy individuals free of neurological impairment

Exclusion Criteria

Already involved in regular physical training
Neuromuscular disorders
Medications known to affect neuromuscular system (other than moderate alcohol or caffeine)
Left-hand dominant

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

Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Interventional Model: PARALLEL
Masking: SINGLE

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Investigators

Principal Investigator: Guang H. Yue, Ph.D., Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Biomedical Engineering

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

October 1, 1999

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2004

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 25, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria