Study of the Reaction of the Brain to Various Stimulations

Corticospinal and Neuromuscular Plasticity Induced by Real and Imaginary Contractions.

Physical activity is considered a therapeutic strategy in its own right in a vast majority of disabling chronic disorders. It leads to an increase in physical and probably cognitive capacity, thanks to its effects on both metabolism (muscle hypertrophy, improvement in oxidative metabolism) and the nervous system (neuroplasticity). Nonetheless, even though there is a consensus on the positive effects of physical exercise (PE) on cerebral plasticity, the physiological mechanisms by which PE affects neuroplasticity, in particular depending on the mode of muscle contraction, are still hypothetical. Moreover, several recent studies have shown that mental learning (ML) by motor imagery improves motor performance, thus making it of interest in a context of rehabilitation, in particular in situations where PE is transient of definitively impossible. Yet, the mechanisms and brain structures involved in motor learning by ML have not been established so far. Finally, on the basis of clinical observations concerning the key role of sensory input in motor function, the hypothesis that increased demand on this input by electrical stimulation (ES) as a means to improve motor function has been proposed. However, the mechanisms by which this type of stimulation could induce neuroplasticity is still to be elucidated.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Corticospinal Plasticity; Neuromuscular Plasticity
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: physical training; Other: mental training; Other: electrical stimulation

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 174
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Dijon, France, 21079
    • CHU Dijon Bourgogne

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• persons who have provided written consent
• healthy subjects
• national health insurance cover
• age 18 to 60 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• personal or family history of epilepsy
• pacemakers or other apparatus likely to interfere with the magnetic field
• history of psychiatric disease
• Persons under guardianship or wards of court
• Pregnant or breast-feeding women
• problem perceived during the neurological examination which could bias the results of the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: healthy volunteers	Other: physical training; workout on treadmill requiring the muscles of the lower limbs mostly in concentric (ascent) or eccentric (downhill); Other: mental training; The task to imagine for the training group will be an abduction of the thumb; Other: electrical stimulation; electrical stimulation of the muscles

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
level of corticospinal excitability	through study completion, an average of 4 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Dijon

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 9, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 24, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): June 24, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 13, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 2, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): November 7, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): February 16, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2023
• Last Verified: February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: GREMEAUX 2017

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No