MedTrace Logo

The Neural Mechanisms of Split-belt Treadmill Adaptation in People With Multiple Sclerosis

NCT05878873 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 51

Last updated 2025-07-03

Study results available
· View outcomes & findings →

Summary

Majority of people with multiple sclerosis experience difficulty with balance and mobility, leading to an increased risk of falls. The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about brain activity during walking adaptation in people with multiple sclerosis. Also, this clinical trial will test a form of nerve stimulation to see if it can improve walking performance.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

* What areas of the brain are the most active during walking adaptation?
* Can nerve stimulation make walking adaptation more effective?

Participants will walk on a treadmill where each leg will go a different speed which will create walking adaptation. At the same time, brain scans will occur. There will be two sessions of walking adaptation, one with nerve stimulation, and one without nerve stimulation. Researchers will compare people with multiple sclerosis to healthy young adults to see if there are differences in brain activity.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Split-belt Treadmill

Split-belt treadmill training, where the speed of each leg is controlled independently has been shown to create gait adaptation where the coordination of each leg is altered, creating improved gait symmetry for people with walking impairments.

DEVICE

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

TENS is a form of nerve stimulation that stimulates at a frequency below motor threshold, targeting activation of sensory receptors, such as muscle spindles. Electrodes that create this stimulation will be placed on the skin superficial to the muscle bellies of the tibialis anterior and rectus femoris.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Multiple Sclerosis Society

    collaborator OTHER

  • Colorado State University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Brett W Fling, Ph.D. · Colorado State University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

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

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-11-28
Primary Completion
2024-06-30
Completion
2024-06-30
FDA Device
Yes

Countries

  • United States

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 NCT05878873 on ClinicalTrials.gov