Arm Basis Training for Stroke Rehabilitation
(SPARk Trial)
What You Need to Know Before You Apply
What is the purpose of this trial?
Difficulty moving the arm is very common and a major cause of disability after stroke. Although rehabilitation therapies (i.e., occupational and physical therapy) are the most common treatments used to improve arm motor function, it remains unknown how therapy actually changes brain pathways after stroke. This project seeks to generate fundamental knowledge about brain pathways that allow people to move their arm after stroke and how these pathways change with rehabilitation; we expect this knowledge to translate to new therapies to reduce stroke-related disability.
We plan to enroll N = 50 patients with moderate to severe difficulty moving their arm after ischemic or hemorrhage stroke during the subacute period (3 to 6 months post stroke) into either 30 hours over 6 weeks of Arm Basis Training (a protocolized form of occupational therapy targeting motor control) or usual care. We will perform kinematic motor assessments, neuroimaging, and neurophysiology before and after therapy in order to test the hypothesis that intensive, target training improves arm motor control and induces corresponding anatomical and physiological changes of associated brain pathways.
Who Is on the Research Team?
David J Lin, MD
Principal Investigator
Massachusetts General Hospital
Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?
Inclusion Criteria
What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?
Interventions
- Arm Basis Training
How Is the Trial Designed?
2
Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
This program is a systematic training regimen specifically designed to improve proximal motor control for patients with severe upper extremity hemiparesis. The core principles of the Arm Basis Training Program focus on rebuilding the fundamental capacity for specific and selective motor control before progressing to more complex motor patterns.
Usual care occupational therapy. Participants will be asked to keep logs of the therapy they receive.
Find a Clinic Near You
Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
Massachusetts General Hospital
Lead Sponsor
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Collaborator
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