Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cognitive Deficits in the Brain of Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury

Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil54 enrolled

Overview

In the case of spinal cord injury, rehabilitation is particularly focused on motor skills. Non-motor impairments such as thinking difficulties did not receive a lot of attention to date. In this research project, the investigators want to find out how thinking difficulties become noticeable in the brain with spinal cord injury. Participation procedure: Participants who take part will be asked to come to an examination once. The duration of the examination is between 2 and 2.5 hours (including around 55 minutes in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner, including preparation and follow-up).

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Spinal Cord Injury

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 60 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion criteria (with and without spinal cord injury): * Male or Female * Age between 18 and 60 * German native speaker * Normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity Additional inclusion criteria (spinal cord injury only): * A diagnosis of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) * Time since injury 12 months or longer * American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade A, B, C and D Exclusion criteria (with and without spinal cord injury): * Contraindication for magnetic resonance imaging examinations (e.g., cardiac pacemaker etc.) * Pregnancy * Diagnosis of other psychiatric or neurological disorders (including tumor in the central nervous system) * Alcohol and/or drug abuse * Confirmed diagnosis of traumatic brain injury * Insufficient hand function (not able to hold a pen due to the restricted motor abilities)

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Brain activity

Brain activity defined as changes in oxygen levels in the blood during the execution of cognitive tasks on cognitive inhibition and verbal fluency (executive functions), and at rest

Time frame: Baseline

Secondary Outcomes

Behavioral performance

Accuracy on cognitive inhibition task (in percentage)

Time frame: Baseline

Behavioral performance

Reaction time (in milliseconds) on cognitive inhibition task

Time frame: Baseline

Behavioral performance

Number of errors on cognitive inhibition task

Time frame: Baseline

Behavioral performance

Number of correct words on verbal fluency task

Time frame: Baseline

Behavioral performance

Number of mistakes on verbal fluency task

Time frame: Baseline

Brain morphometry

Volume of brain structures in cubic millimetres

Time frame: Baseline

Level of life satisfaction

Satisfaction with Life Scale (validated questionnaire assessing life satisfaction)

Time frame: Baseline

Level of anxiety

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (validated questionnaire assessing anxiety)

Time frame: Baseline

Level of pain

Validated questionnaire assessing pain severity

Time frame: Baseline

Quality of sleep

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (validated questionnaire assessing sleep quality)

Time frame: Baseline

Level of attention and awareness

Mindful Attention and Awareness scale (validated questionnaire assessing level of attention and awareness)

Time frame: Baseline

Motor symptom severity

Motor symptoms severity (from level A to E) based on the International Standards for Neurological Classification of spinal cord injury (ISNCSCI)

Time frame: Baseline

Demographics

Demographic information such as age, sex and education level, as well as time since injury

Time frame: Baseline