Motor System Activation With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Physical Exercise to Reduce Pain in Elderly

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

32 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-12-01

Study Completion Date

2024-12-31

Brief Summary

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Physical exercises are known to reduce chronic pain in elderly individuals by activating the motor system. However, it seems that exercises are not effective for everyone. The investigators believe that elderly individuals with altered corticospinal tract will be those in whom the exercise alone are not sufficient to relieve pain. For those patients, adding an exogenous stimulation of the motor system such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) would facilitate the corticospinal tract, and consequently, would help exercises to relieve chronic pain. The investigators hypothesize that combining tDCS with the exercises will be more effective than exercises alone, but only in individuals who initially show low corticospinal projections.

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Detailed Description

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Prevalence and intensity of chronic pain increases substantially with age. According to several studies, physical exercises are effective to reduce chronic pain in elderly. However, it seems that exercises are not effective for everyone. One of the hypotheses raised is that the people in whom the exercises have no effect would be those with an alteration of the corticospinal tract. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neurostimulation technique known to facilitate the corticospinal tract when applied over the motor cortex.

Elderly suffering from chronic pain will be recruited in this double-blind, parallel-group, randomised control trial. Participants will be randomized to receive exercises combined to real tDCS (5 daily sessions, 2 mA, 20 minutes) or to sham tDCS. Intervention will last 8 weeks at a rate of 3 workouts per week.

Conditions

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Chronic Pain

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Exercise + real tDCS

Intervention will last 8 weeks where participants will be trained at a rate of 3 workouts per week.

For the first week, participants will receive 5 daily sessions of anodal tDCS (2 mA, 20 min).

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

transcranial direct current stimulation

Intervention Type OTHER

real tDCS sessions

Physical exercise

Intervention Type OTHER

Aerobic exercise and physical training combined with sham tDCS

Exercise + Sham tDCS

Intervention will last 8 weeks where participants will be trained at a rate of 3 workouts per week.

For the first week, participants will receive 5 daily sessions of sham tDCS.

Group Type SHAM_COMPARATOR

Physical exercise

Intervention Type OTHER

Aerobic exercise and physical training combined with sham tDCS

Interventions

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transcranial direct current stimulation

real tDCS sessions

Intervention Type OTHER

Physical exercise

Aerobic exercise and physical training combined with sham tDCS

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* To have musculoskeletal chronic pain
* Not to change medication and life habits during the study

Exclusion Criteria

* People physically active before the study (more then 150 min of moderate to vigorous exercise par week)
* To have an uncontrolled cardiovascular disease
* To have orthopedic limitation or contraindication to physical exercise
* To have contraindication to tDCS
* To have contraindication to TMS
* To have contraindication to MRI

Minimum Eligible Age

60 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No