Paired brain and nerve stimulation to change neck spinal cord connections
Tests paired brain and median nerve stimulation in healthy adults.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Columbia University
- Where
- New York, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Cervical Spinal Cord Associative Plasticity
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 20 people, planned
- Started
- 9 May 2026
- Expected to end
- Jun 2029
- Type of study
- Interventional, 4 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- SCAP
- MagPro X100
- Digitimer DS8R
- Paired non-associative stimulation
- Record updated
- 22 May 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for healthy adults to test paired brain and arm nerve stimulation. The stimulation aims to change nerve connections in the neck part of the spinal cord.
- Age
- 18 Years to 80 Years
- Sex
- All sexes
Main reasons for not taking part
- Known disease or injury of the brain, spinal cord or nerves
- Known muscle, bone or joint injury of the tested arm or hand
- You or a family member have had seizures
- Taking medicines that make seizures more likely
- Implanted devices, such as stimulators or pacemakers
This trial only enrols healthy participants. The registry sentence this rests on: * No known central or peripheral neurological disease or injury
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 8 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- 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
Who cannot take part
- Personal or family history of seizures
- Use of medications that lower seizure threshold
- History of implanted equipment including stimulators/pacemakers
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 80 years old?
Where in United States
- Columbia University Irving Medical CenterNew York, United StatesContact: Jason Carmel, MD, PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
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.
Read full original descriptionShow less
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.
The 4 groups in the trial
- SCAPTreatment being tested
With this session, participants will receive 90 trials of 0.1hz paired motor cortical stimulation and median nerve stimulation for 15 minutes at sub-threshold intensities, timed to converge in the cervical spinal cord simultaneously.
- Cortical stimulation onlyExisting treatment, for comparison
With this session, participants will receive 90 trials of 0.1hz motor cortical stimulation for 15 minutes at sub-threshold intensities.
Treatment: MagPro X100
- Median nerve stimulation onlyExisting treatment, for comparison
With this session, participants will receive 90 trials of 0.1hz median nerve stimulation for 15 minutes at sub-threshold intensities.
Treatment: Digitimer DS8R
- Paired non-associative stimulationExisting treatment, for comparison
With this session, participants will receive 90 trials of 0.1hz paired motor cortical stimulation and median nerve stimulation for 15 minutes at sub-threshold intensities, timed to be 40 milliseconds apart in the cervical spinal cord.
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Paired Non-invasive Stimulation of Hand Motor Cortex and Median Nerve to Induce Plasticity in the Cervical Spinal Cord
- Plain-language title
- Paired brain and nerve stimulation to change neck spinal cord connectionsGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 14 November 2026.
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07539025, who can take part
- Record updated
- 22 May 2026