Pharmacological Recruitment of Endogenous Neural Precursors to Promote Pediatric White Matter Repair: Establishing Correlations Between Visual Outcomes, Saccadic Function and MEG Oscillations in Children With Demyelinating Disorders in Comparison to Healthy Control Children
- Conditions
- Demyelinating Disease
- Registration Number
- NCT03010826
- Lead Sponsor
- The Hospital for Sick Children
- Brief Summary
The neural circuits in our brains require a layer of insulation in order to transmit signals in a rapid and efficient fashion. This insulation is called White Matter and is comprised of a specific type of brain cell called an oligodendrocytes. Damage to brain white matter occurs following injury and in disorders like Multiple Sclerosis and results in sensory, motor, and cognitive problems. Currently there are no effective medical therapies to promote brain repair and reduce disability following damage to white matter. In this project, we hope to change the situation by encouraging the brain itself to generate new oligodendrocytes and thus new white matter. Our first step is to find measures sensitive to white matter growth.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 78
- Experienced a demyelinating event (Only applicable to patient subjects)
- Between the ages of 5 years to 18 years and 11 months of age
- Has either English as his or her native language or has had at least two years of schooling in English
- Children with non-demyelinating etiologies of white matter dysfunction (i.e., metabolic disorders, vasculitis, and non-specific MRI abnormalities
- Is younger than 5 years of age
- Is 18 years and 11 of age or older
- Has a prior history of traumatic brain injury, neurological disorder, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, or learning disability
- Requires sedation for brain scanning
- Is claustrophobic, as brain scanning requires children to enter a tunnel in the MRI machine
Study & Design
- Study Type
- OBSERVATIONAL
- Study Design
- Not specified
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Visual fields testing 20 minutes MRI scans of the brain, including Diffusion Tensor Imagine (DTI) 90 minutes Colour vision testing 10 minutes Neurocognitive Testing 90 minutes Computerized Penn Neurocognitive Battery
High contrast visual acuity 10 minutes Clinical Interview 10 minutes Neuronal responses during pro/anti-saccade eye movements 60 minutes Video-based eye tracking monocularly in the MEG and binocularly outside the MEG
Electrical potentials initiated by brief visual stimuli 10 minutes Visual Evoked Potentials (VEP)
Low contrast visual acuity; colour vision; visual fields testing; OCT testing; 10 minutes Optical coherence tomography (OCT) 25 minutes Neurological Exam - Standard physical exam performed by neurologist to determine the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score. 20 minutes
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method
Trial Locations
- Locations (2)
Queen's University
🇨🇦Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Hospital for Sick Children
🇨🇦Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Queen's University🇨🇦Kingston, Ontario, Canada