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CNS Changes Following Stroke

NCT04059276 · Status: RECRUITING · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 35

Last updated 2025-12-15

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The objective of this study is to better understand the structural and functional changes that the CNS undergoes following stroke and how these changes relate to clinical measures. Both macroscopic and microscopic changes of the brain and the spinal cord will be examined in stroke patients and compared to healthy controls. In terms of structural plasticity, we aim to identify MR biomarkers that allow predicting the course of the patient's neurological status and accurately describe the course of the disease and the recovery. Importantly, we aim to investigate which factors scale the patients' symptoms.

In terms of functional plasticity, we will combine fMRI with behavioural motor and sensory testing to understand i) the structural and functional interplay between spinal and supraspinal neural circuits after stroke possibly driven by beneficial plasticity/regeneration vs. maladaptive plasticity/degeneration and ii) which clinical and behavioural determinants drive functional hand representations in the primary somatosensory and motor cortices to be maintained and which determinants drive reorganisation of functional representations following sensory input loss. We will further investigate the contribution of brainstem reorganisation to plasticity observed at the cortical level and, by doing so, aim to better understand the mechanistic underpinnings of functional reorganisation.

Conditions

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

MRI

We will examine chronic (\>3 months post stroke) patients using functional, structural, and metabolic MRI in both the brain and the spinal cord.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

MRI

We will examine healthy control participants using functional, structural, and metabolic MRI in both the brain and the spinal cord.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Zurich

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Patrick Freund, Prof. Dr. · University of Zurich

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-12-01
Primary Completion
2027-06-30
Completion
2027-06-30

Countries

  • Switzerland

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

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 NCT04059276 on ClinicalTrials.gov