The Effect of Amputation on Spatial Visual Representation in Peripersonal Space

November 29, 2017 updated by: Hadassah Medical Organization

The Effect of Upper Arm Amputation and the Use of Prosthetics on Spatial Visual Representation in Peripersonal Space - a Behavioural Study

In this study, we wish to find behavioral evidence for the question whether an amputation of the arm can lead to changes in visual perception or motor responses to objects in peripersonal space. We hypothesize that changes in the motor and somatosensory hand-related cortices following amputation might lead to changes in parietal hand-related areas. The consequence of these parietal changes should be reflected behaviorally in reduced perception/attention/responses to hand-related objects in the space ipsilateral to the amputation. We further hypothesize that the use of prosthetics may provide the necessary visual feedback to maintain an intact hand representation and therefore lead to lesser cortical reorganization in both visual and somatosensory cortical areas.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Detailed Description

In a recent fMRI study (Makin TR. et al., J. Neurosci. 2007), we found extended cortical representation for a visual stimulus provided that it is presented close to the hand. It is therefore interesting to ask whether changes in the brain following limb amputation might induce changes in the amputees' perception of the body and consequently it's surrounding. In this study, we wish to find behavioral evidence for the question whether an amputation of the arm can lead to changes in visual perception or motor responses to objects in peripersonal space. We hypothesize that changes in the motor and somatosensory hand-related cortices following amputation might lead to changes in parietal hand-related areas. Consequently, we expect to find reduced perception/attention/responses to hand-related objects in the space ipsilateral to the amputation.

In this experiment we plan to employ a paradigm which is inspired by the affordance effect, originally introduced by Tucker and Elice (1998): we will present subjects with brief images of either manipulable or non manipulable objects in either the left or right visual field. The subjects will be required to determine whether the object contains a metal or not, by moving either their left or their right shoulder. We predict that while the control group of normal subjects would show a congruency effect (that is superior performance (faster and more accurate responses) when the responding shoulder is congruent with the position of the objects, the amputees will show spatial biases towards the non-amputated side. This effect should be more prominent for the manipulable objects.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

40

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Israel
      • Jerusalem, Israel, 91904
        • Neurobiology Dep., Life Sciences Institute, Hebrew Uni.

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

In this experiment we plan to employ a paradigm which is inspired by the affordance effect, originally introduced by Tucker and Elice (1998): we will present subjects with brief images of either manipulable or non manipulable objects in either the left or right visual field. The subjects will be required to determine whether the object contains a metal or not, by moving either their left or their right shoulder. We predict that while the control group of normal subjects would show a congruency effect (that is superior performance (faster and more accurate responses) when the responding shoulder is congruent with the position of the objects, the amputees will show spatial biases towards the non-amputated side. This effect should be more prominent for the manipulable objects.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Upper limb amputee, amputation above wrist.

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

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Hadassah Medical Organization

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Isabella Schuartz, MD, Rehabilitation Dep. Hadassah Medical Hospital, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

November 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 10, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

April 11, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 30, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 29, 2017

Last Verified

March 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 090767-amputy-HMO-CTIL

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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