This is a randomized, double-blind pilot clinical trial to test a novel treatment approach to rehabilitate fine motor function in individuals living with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) using anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to augment manual dexterity training. Treatment will be delivered to individuals at home using a state-of-the-art remotely supervised tele-rehabilitation protocol, a major advantage for patients with respect to ease of access, feasibility, reinforcement learning and minimal burden of in clinic study visit participation. Improvements in fine motor skill will be assessed at each remote session using a novel portable grip device that measures execution and adaptation or learning of fingertip forces during grasp, which is more sensitive than standard measures of hand function.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
65
Bilateral M1-SO electrode placement; Active= anodal 2.0 mA dose × 20 minutes
Designed to ensure blinding, includes initial and ending "ramp-up/down" stimulation for 60 seconds
Manual dexterity training will be based on the at-home study in MS by Kamm and colleagues, where the training was completed by participants in their homes and demonstrated to be superior to strength training.
New York University School of Medicine
New York, New York, United States
Mean Preload Phase Duration (PLD)
(PLD) is the duration of finger contact until the onset of positive load force. It assesses the time taken to stabilize grasp and is a robust measure of grasp execution.
Time frame: baseline and 30 minutes for each of 20 sessions, values averaged across sessions
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