The Effect of Acute Exercise on Cardiac Autonomic, Cerebrovascular, and Cognitive Function in Spinal Cord Injury

Not Applicable

Terminated

• Conditions: Cognitive Impairment; Spinal Cord Injuries; Cardiovascular Abnormalities; Cerebrovascular Disease; Sequelae
• Interventions: Behavioral: One bout of moderate-intensity sub-maximal aerobic exercise

• Registration Number: NCT05542238
• Lead Sponsor: State University of New York at Buffalo

Brief Summary

The aims of this proposal are to: 1) investigate whether individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) demonstrate cardiac autonomic, cerebrovascular, and cognitive dysfunctions compared to non-injured age- and sex-matched controls in the following conditions: supine rest and head-up tilt/face-cooling test; 2) examine if autonomic completeness/ incompleteness, physical activity, and psychological distress are predictors for dysfunctions during supine rest and head-up tilt/face cooling conditions in SCI individuals; 3) examine if one bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise temporarily improves cardiac autonomic and cerebrovascular functions and thereby improves cognition when in supine rest and head- up tilt/face cooling conditions. The study will include an initial visit and an experimental visit to our lab. Three groups of participants will be included in this study: Group 1, SCI with acute exercise; group 2, SCI with rest-control; and group 3, age- and sex-matched non-injured individuals. Cardiovascular variables, such as heart rate variability, blood pressure variability, and cerebrovascular variables, such as cerebral blood flow velocity and oxygenated hemoglobin, and cognitive performance will be examined. The investigator hypothesizes that individuals with SCI will have impaired cardiac autonomic, cerebrovascular, and cognitive functions compared to the non-injured controls, and an acute exercise can improve those functions. Autonomic completeness/incompleteness, physical activity, and psychological distress are significant factors that predict cardiac autonomic, cerebrovascular, and cognitive functions in individuals with SCI.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-09-06
• Study First Submitted: 2022-09-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-09-13
• Study First Posted: 2022-09-15
• Primary Completion: 2024-12-18
• Study Completion: 2024-12-18
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-03
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: TERMINATED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 6

Inclusion Criteria

Spinal cord injury group:

• Males or females with chronic SCI (i.e. at least 6 months after the initial injury)
• International Standard for Neurological Classification of SCI (ISNCSCI) A-D
• Neurological level of injury C6 or below
• 18-55 years old
• Proficient in English
• Able to detect middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv) and/or posterior cerebral artery blood velocity (PCAv) signals through TCD

Non-injured controls:

• Males or females without SCI
• 18-55 years old
• Proficient in English
• Able to detect MCAv and/or PCAv signals through TCD

Exclusion Criteria

• Cardiovascular, pulmonary or respiratory diseases, or diabetes mellitus, any other diseases/disorders affecting cardiac autonomic nervous system, such as glaucoma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Color Blindness
• Pregnancy

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: FACTORIAL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
CON	One bout of moderate-intensity sub-maximal aerobic exercise	Age-and sex-matched healthy controls with exercise intervention
SCI	One bout of moderate-intensity sub-maximal aerobic exercise	Individuals with spinal cord injury

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cerebrovascular functions	During the cognitive tests post the 20-min acute exercise	Assessed by the middle and posterior cerebral artery velocity in centimeters per second
Cognitive function	During head-up tilt post the 20-min acute exercise	Error made during the cognitive test in number
Cardiac sympathetic function	During cognitive tests post the 20-min acute exercise	Low frequency component of blood pressure variability in mmHg\^2
Cardiac parasympathetic function	During cognitive tests post the 20-min acute exercise	High frequency component of heart rate variability in mm\^2
Cerebral oxygenation level	Change from baseline to the cognitive tests post the 20-min acute exercise	Cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin in unknown unit

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at University at Buffalo; 🇺🇸 Buffalo, New York, United States