Retraining Reaching in Cerebellar Ataxia

Part of paid clinical trials in Baltimore, Maryland.

Sponsor
Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc.
Study ID
NCT03879018
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Cerebellar Ataxia

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
22 Years - 80 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • Reach training with visual feedback — BEHAVIORAL
    Reach training will be accomplished using an Oculus Rift and Touch 3D headset. Active markers will be placed on the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger in order to capture limb movement in real time. During each training session, participants will first be familiarized with the task and then will reach from a home position to 4 virtual targets that are presented in the front of the participant and within the workspace where most natural arm movements are performed.Targets will be presented in a pseudorandom order and participants will reach a total of 400 times

Study Details

The purpose of this study is to test for benefits of reinforcement based training paradigm versus standard practice over weeks for improving reaching movements in people with ataxia.

Key Dates

Start date
Aug 1, 2019
Status verified
Aug 2025
Primary completion
Apr 1, 2026
Completion
May 1, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment
18 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Experimental: Reinforcement Training
    Reach training with visual feedback. During each training session, participants will first be familiarized with the task and then will reach from a home position to 4 virtual targets that are presented in the front of the participant and within the workspace where most natural arm movements are performed. During training the participant will reach a total of 400 times. For reinforcement training, participants will not see their hand or a cursor, but instead participants will receive target-specific binary feedback after each reach (i.e. based on running average of last 10 reaches to that target). Binary feedback indicates only whether the reach was successful or unsuccessful and provides no specific information about the location of the hand.
  • Experimental: Standard Practice Training
    Reach training with visual feedback. During each training session, participants will first be familiarized with the task and then will reach from a home position to 4 virtual targets that are presented in the front of the participant and within the workspace where most natural arm movements are performed. During training the participant will reach a total of 400 times. For standard practice, participants will be able to see a cursor that represents the position of the hand at all times and try to make straight reaches to the targets. This type of feedback provided specific information about the location of the hand.

Primary Outcome Measure

Hand path distance during natural reaching to the trained target locations. [ Time Frame: Assessed every study visit week 1 to week 12 ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Motion Analysis Lab in the Kennedy Krieger InstituteBaltimoreMaryland21205
Anthony J Gonzalez, BS
[email protected]
443-923-2716
Amy J Bastian, PhD, PT (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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By research site
Motion Analysis Lab in the Kennedy Krieger Institute· Baltimore, MD

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