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Cervical Spinal Cord Associative Plasticity
Paired Non-invasive Stimulation of Hand Motor Cortex and Median Nerve to Induce Plasticity in the Cervical Spinal Cord
Who can join
Ages 18 to 80 · All sexes · Healthy volunteers welcome
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Willingness to participate in up to 4 sessions * Maintenance of caffeine and exercise levels at time of sessions * Ability to provide informed consent * No known central or peripheral neurological disease or injury * No known musculoskeletal injury of the tested arm or hand Exclusion Criteria: * Personal or family history of seizures * Use of medications that lower seizure threshold * History of implanted equipment including stimulators/pacemakers
About the study
Associative plasticity has been used to promote functional recovery from conditions affecting movement. Prior work from the Carmel laboratory has shown that paired associative stimulation protocols timed to converge in the cervical spinal cord induce significantly larger upper limb motor responses than if timed to converge in the motor cortex.
The goal of this prospective experimental study in typically developing adults is to test the effects of pairing sub-threshold hand motor cortical and median nerve stimulation targeted to induce plasticity in the cervical spinal cord, rather than in the motor cortex. Based on preliminary data, the investigators are performing a confirmatory study to test the physiological and behavioral effects of the paired brain and peripheral nerve protocol, called the SCAP-Nerve protocol.
This study will first be conducted in typically developing adults to confirm the cervical spinal cord as the ideal target and verify the present stimulation parameters are sufficient to promote induction of associative plasticity of sensorimotor connections for manual dexterity. The outcomes from this study could then be translated to efficacy studies in people with spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy to promote clinically meaningful improvements in dexterity.
What is being tested
- SCAP (other)
- MagPro X100 (device)
- Digitimer DS8R (device)
- Paired non-associative stimulation (other)
Sponsor: Columbia University · Participants: 20 · Started: May 9, 2026
Contact the study team
- Shaker Dukkipati, MD, PhD · Phone: 2123046501
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT07539025
Locations in the U.S.
| New York | Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York |
Conditions
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.