How Many Days Would You Want to Practice a Skill to Achieve it?

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Motor Learning
• Interventions: Device: Sham TDCS; Device: Anodal TDCS; Device: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

• Registration Number: NCT03249961
• Lead Sponsor: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Brief Summary

Practice is required to improve your shot in basketball or to play a musical instrument. The learning of these motor skills can be further enhanced by non-invasively stimulating regions of the brain that control movements with electrical currents. These electric currents can strengthen or weaken connections of the brain, which consequently affects a person's ability to improve their performance on a skill. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is widely applied in many disciplines of neuroscience research, and has potential therapeutic application. There are two specific types of NIBS that will be used in this research study: 1) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), which applies very weak electrical currents via two rubber electrodes on the scalp, and 2) Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), which applies magnetic pulses via a coil against the head, to stimulate regions of the brain. Both types of non-invasive brain stimulation (i.e., tDCS, and TMS) are well-tolerated, painless, and safe. The application of tDCS to brain regions that control movements, concurrently with practice of a skill, results in better skill performance, than practice alone with no tDCS. Therefore, in this study, we will be testing different types of brain stimulation and different amounts of practice.

Detailed Description

Not available

Basic Information
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Recruitment & Eligibility
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Study & Design
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Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-08-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-08-14
• Study First Posted: 2017-08-15
• Study Start: 2018-04-20
• Primary Completion: 2020-08-31
• Study Completion: 2020-08-31
• Status Verified: 2020-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-10-23
• Last Update Posted: 2020-10-27

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 27

Inclusion Criteria

• Healthy

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Exclusion Criteria

• prior history of neurological or psychiatric disease
• prior experience with the motor task used
• contraindications to TMS and TDCS (e.g., metal implants, history of seizures and headaches)
• musculoskeletal injury to upper limb
• drugs that interact with NIBS (e.g., antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants)

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Excitatory Brain Stimulation	Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)	Participants will receive Anodal TDCS, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Placebo Brain stimulation	Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)	Participants will receive Sham TDCS, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Placebo Brain stimulation	Sham TDCS	Participants will receive Sham TDCS, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Excitatory Brain Stimulation	Anodal TDCS	Participants will receive Anodal TDCS, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Accuracy	Up to 8 days	Accuracy is defined as the proportion of trials per block with hits to all targets in the correct sequence order.
Speed	Up to 8 days	Speed is captured by the average sequence movement time per training block

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center; 🇨🇦 Toronto, Ontario, Canada