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Brain Stimulation Training for Spinal Cord Injury

This study is testing a brain stimulation training called Motor Evoked Potential (MEP) Operant Conditioning to improve arm and hand function in people with spinal cord injuries. This training aims to strengthen the connections between your brain, spinal cord, and muscles, which are important for movement. Researchers hope that by improving these connections, people with incomplete spinal cord injuries can regain more movement. To join, you need to be an adult (18 or older) with a stable spinal cord injury at or above C6, and have some weakness in wrist extension. The study will measure changes in the size of your MEP and your independence in daily activities (SCIM III score) to see if the training is successful. The current status of this study is unclear, and it plans to enroll 15 participants.

Study design
This is an interventional study with a planned enrollment of 15 participants. It is not specified if it is randomized or blinded.
What's involved
You would participate in conditioning sessions over several weeks. Your MEP will be measured at the beginning and end of the conditioning, and your SCIM III score will be assessed at various points during and after the intervention.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Your progress will be followed for 1 month and 3 months after the intervention ends.

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NCT07179822

Motoneuron Recruitment and Motor Evoked Potential Up-Conditioning (MEP) in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Recruiting
NAAges 18–80InterventionalBasic science
Medical University of South Carolina
~15 participants
Updated 2026-07-29 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Motor Evoked Potential (MEP) Operant Conditioning

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Percent change in the size of the Motor Evoked Potential (MEP) from baseline to final conditioning sessions.
Measured over Baseline (average of 6 sessions over 2 weeks) and final phase (average of sessions 19-24 over weeks 7-8 of intervention)
+1 more outcome measured

Conditions

Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders (SCI/D)
Spinal Cord Injury

Explore related trials

Spinal Cord Injury

Where it's being run

1 sites across 1 states
South Carolina1

Study leadership

  • Aiko Thompson, PhD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Medical University of South Carolina

Who to contact

Occupational Therapist
[email protected]
(843) 792-6313
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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Adult (≥18 yrs old)
a history of injury to spinal cord at or above C6
neurologically stable (\>1 year post SCI)
medical clearance to participate
weak wrist extension at least unilaterally
expectation that current medication will be maintained without change for at least 3 months.
Stable use of anti-spasticity medication (e.g., baclofen, diazepam, tizanidine) is accepted. (Because only neurologically stable subjects will enter this study, medication changes will be unlikely.)
In participants with bilateral wrist extension weakness in whom Extensor Carpi Radialis (ECR) MEP can be elicited in both arms, the more severely impaired arm is studied. In participants with unilateral wrist weakness or in participants with bilateral wrist weakness in whom an ECR MEP can be elicited in only one arm, that arm is studied.

Exclusion

motoneuron injury
unstable medical condition
cognitive impairment (because the studied intervention is a learning-based intervention)
a history of epileptic seizures
a pre-existing or confounding neurological condition (e.g., history of MS, Stroke, Parkinson's disease)
metal implants in the cranium
implanted biomedical device in or above the chest (e.g., a cardiac pacemaker, cochlear implant)
no measurable MEP elicited in the ECR
inability to produce any voluntary ECR EMG activity
extensive use of functional electrical stimulation to the arm on a daily basis (as it may interfere with or augment the effects of MEP conditioning itself)
pregnancy (due to changes in posture and potential medical instability)
inability or unwillingness of subject or legal guardian/representative to give informed consent

What this trial measures

  • Percent change in the size of the Motor Evoked Potential (MEP) from baseline to final conditioning sessions.Baseline (average of 6 sessions over 2 weeks) and final phase (average of sessions 19-24 over weeks 7-8 of intervention)

    MEP from each session is expressed as the percent of the initial MEP size (average MEP size from the 6 baseline sessions). The final MEP size is the fitted estimate of the MEP size at the end of 24 intervention sessions. MEP size is a measurement of the integrity of the corticospinal tract.

  • Change in Spinal Cord Independence Measure--version III (SCIM III) scoreBaseline (Week 0), mid-intervention (Week 5, after session 12), post-intervention (Week 9, after session 24), and follow-up at 1 month (Week 13) and 3 months (Week 21) post-intervention.

    To measure basic functional independence, we will use the most recent version of the SCIM (SCIM III), which is self-reported and comprises 19 items in three sub-scales: (1) self-care (6 items, subscore 0-20); (2) respiration and sphincter management (4 items, sub-score 0-40); and (3) mobility (9 items, subscore 0-40). The total score ranges from 0-100. The items are weighted in terms of their presumed clinical relevance. SCIM score will be used for calculation of MCID.