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Action Observation Treatment (AOT) as a Rehabilitation Tool

NCT02235350 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 80

Last updated 2014-09-10

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Epidemiological studies report that 85% of stroke survivors show hemiparesis and a percentage ranging from 55% to 75% report upper limb functional impairment. Early rehabilitation in stroke patients with motor disorders can be effective to restore the affected function and to improve the performance of daily activities. Up to now, different methods and techniques have been used to recover motor functions in stroke patients. However, none of these has been conclusively proven to be more effective than the others. The clinical benefits induced by motor rehabilitation are closely related to "neuroplasticity". The main aim of the present study is to assess the efficacy of action observation treatment, based on Mirror Neuron System (MNS), in the rehabilitation of upper limb motor functions in acute stroke patients. The study will also aim at assessing neuroplasticity within areas belonging to the MNS through functional magnetic resonance (fMRI).

Conditions

  • Stroke, Acute Hemiplegia, Apraxia

Interventions

OTHER

Action Observation Treatment (AOT)

Participants will be asked to carefully observe at a computer screen videos depicting different daily actions. Each action will consist of 3 to 4 constituent motor acts. Each motor act will be presented for 3 minutes. As a whole, therefore, each video will be 12 minutes long. At the end of each motor act presentation, participants will be required to execute with the affected hand the observed motor sequence for 2 minutes. Each single rehabilitation session based on AOT will last 20 minutes. We will record ten daily actions for a total of ten video-clips. Participants will be presented with each video clips, twice a day, in order of complexity as judged by the experimenter. Participants will undergo 10 sessions a week, each lasting 20 minutes for 2 weeks.

OTHER

Observation of videos with no motor content (MNO)

Participants will be asked to observe video clips with no specific motor content. Videos will concern scientific, geographical and historical issues. As for cases, video clips will be divided into three to four parts. At the end of each part, controls will execute the same actions as cases, in the same order. In this way cases and controls will undergo the same amount of motor practice and receive the same amount of visual stimulation, the only difference being the content of visual stimuli.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Neuromed IRCCS

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Giovanni Buccino, MD, PhD · Neuromed IRCCS

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
85 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2014-06-30
Primary Completion
2014-09-30
Completion
2015-06-30

Countries

  • Italy

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02235350 on ClinicalTrials.gov