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Influence of Fast and Slow Imagined Muscle Contractions on Muscle Function or Central Nervous System Properties

Does the Speed of Imagined Muscle Contractions Affect Muscle Function and Central Nervous System Excitability?

Who can join

Ages 18 to 30 · All sexes · Healthy volunteers welcome

Inclusion Criteria:

* Be between the ages of 18 - 30
* Healthy (no medical conditions)
* If female, must be taking the same monophasic oral contraceptive for the past 6 months
* Have a body mass index between 18.5 - 30 kg/m2
* Have not performed structured cardiovascular or resistance exercise in past 3 years
* Be right-handed
* Not currently taking stimulants, antipsychotic, anxiety, or depression medications
* Have not suffered an upper extremity musculoskeletal injury within the past year

Exclusion Criteria:

* If transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is not deemed appropriate depending on your responses to the TMS-specific questionnaire
* Being ambidextrous
* Although rare, you will be excluded if discernable muscle activation responses are not possible via TMS

About the study

The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to learn if imagining fast or slow muscle contractions causes different responses for nervous system excitability and muscle function in young, healthy males and females in. The main questions are:

Does imagining fast muscle contractions cause greater nervous system excitability compared to imagining slow muscle contractions?

Does imagining fast muscle contractions increase muscle function compared to imagining slow muscle contractions?

A control condition (rest) will be compared with two intervention conditions: imagining fast and imagining slow conditions, to determine if the fast and slow increase outcomes more than control and if fast has the greatest response.

Participants will:

* Attend 4 laboratory visits * Perform 50 imagined contractions fast or slow, but with no physical movement * Physical muscle contractions and non-invasive brain stimulation would be completed before and after each condition.

What is being tested

• Imagined muscle contractions (behavioral)

Sponsor: Kennesaw State University · Participants: 18 · Started: 2024-10

Contact the study team

• Garrett Hester, Ph.D. · Phone: 470-578-4267

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT06627491

Locations in the U.S.

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.