Enhancing Recovery of Arm Movement in Stroke Patients

Summary

Many people who have had a stroke have problems recovering the use of their affected arm and these problems may persist for a long time. The investigators' research will test new ways to boost recovery by using non-painful brain stimulation together with training of arm movements using basic science principles. The training program will be done using the latest technology in rehabilitation such as virtual reality and robotics. The investigators will compare three groups of patients who have had a stroke. Each group will receive different combinations of brain stimulation and arm training. Another aspect of this proposal is that the investigators will do the same training programs in three different countries - Canada, Israel and India. In this way, the investigators will combine knowledge and skills to create training programs that can be applied anywhere in the world and that are not necessarily limited to high-income countries. Also, by combining expertise, the investigators will help to build the capacity to do research in India, a middle-income country that has great potential to contribute new knowledge to rehabilitation medicine.

Conditions

• Stroke
• Arm
• Paresis

Interventions

DEVICE

tDCS

Application of 1.5 mA tDCS for 30 minutes

DEVICE

sham tDCS

Application of sham tDCS for 30 minutes

BEHAVIORAL

personalized practice

arm exercise consisting of whole arm movement within a restricted elbow range of motion

BEHAVIORAL

non-personalized practice

arm exercise consisting of unrestricted whole arm movement

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tel Aviv University

  collaborator OTHER

• Manipal University

  collaborator OTHER

• McGill University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mindy F Levin, PhD · McGill University

• Dario G Liebermann, PhD · Tel Aviv University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

25 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-06-30

Primary Completion

2020-09-30

Completion

2021-12-01

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations