Does Motor Imagery Training Enhance Control of Movement in Older Adults?

Motor Imagery Training, Force Steadiness and Neural Drive

The goal of this clinical trial is learn about motor imagery training (i.e. imagining a task) with healthy older adults. The main question this clinical trial aims to answer is:

• Will imagining a task improve control of force during an elbow flexion muscle contraction in healthy older adults?

Participants will:

• Complete questionaries about general activity levels and ability to imagine tasks
• Perform either motor imagery training or watch a documentary
• Perform maximal and submaximal elbow flexion contractions

Researchers will compare the motor imagery training with the control group to see if control of force is improved in the motor imagery training group.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Motor imagery training

Detailed Description

Motor imagery training could be beneficial in rehabilitative settings when participants are not physically capable of preforming a motor task or in injury prevention scenarios such as when multiple repetitions of a motor task should not be performed. If the effects of motor imagery training are favourable then they could have meaningful influence on the performance of steady movements in older adults who experience declines in force steadiness with age. Therefore, the first aim of this study will be to determine if one session of motor imagery training will influence corticospinal excitability in older adults and improve force steadiness during isometric elbow flexion contractions with the observed benefit being greater in females. The second aim of this study will be to determine if there is an associated change in oscillations in common synaptic input to motor neurons with a change in force steadiness.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jennifer Jakobi, PhD; Phone Number: 250-807-9884; Email: jennifer.jakobi@ubc.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 65 years to 90 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Healthy older adults aged 65 to 90 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

1. have had an injury or orthopaedic surgery to the arm or shoulder in the prior 6 months
2. are involved in high levels of upper-body strength training
3. have history of training in fine motor tasks (i.e., musicians)
4. have a history of MIT
5. have systemic diseases and/or nerve damage affecting neuromuscular function
6. have severe cognitive impairment
7. are unable to read or speak English fluently
8. are left hand dominant

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Motor Imagery Training; Participants will do motor imagery training in 5 minute blocks for a total of 20 minutes.	Other: Motor imagery training; Participants imagine themselves through their own eyes performing submaximal elbow flexion contractions.
No Intervention: Control; Participants will watch a documentary in 5 minute blocks for a total of 20 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Force steadiness	Measured as the the coefficient in variation of force	Within one session: Change from baseline (immediately before session) to 20 minutes after the session
Corticospinal excitability	Measured as the peak-to-peak amplitude of a motor evoked potential	Within one session: Change from baseline (immediately before session) to 20 minutes after the session
Common synaptic input	Estimated from motor unit discharge times.	Within one session: Change from baseline (immediately before session) to 20 minutes after the session

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Maximal elbow flexion force	The total amount of force produced during a maximal contraction	Within one session: Change from baseline (immediately before session) to 20 minutes after the session

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of British Columbia
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jennifer Jakobi, PhD, University of British Columbia- Okanagan

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Anticipated): December 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 29, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 29, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): December 30, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 30, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 29, 2022
• Last Verified: December 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Aged; Aged, 80 and over
• Other Study ID Numbers: MIT&ForceSteadiness

Drug and device information, study documents

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