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Effect of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Free Will

This study has been completed.

Sponsored by: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Information provided by: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00029653
  Purpose

This study will use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate how the brain controls movement by sending messages to the spinal cord and muscles.

Healthy normal volunteers 21 years of age or older may participate in this study.

They must have no medical, neurological or psychiatric illnesses nor have been taking medications that affect nervous system function.

Participants will undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation. For this procedure, an insulated wire coil is placed on the scalp or skin. A brief electrical current is passed through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the brain. If the coil is placed over a nerve or area of the brain that controls muscles, it may cause a muscle twitch, possibly strong enough to move the limb. In other cases, the subject may have a feeling of movement or feel a tingling sensation in a limb. Stimulation over the muscles on the side of the head may cause some discomfort in that area or twitching of the jaw.

During the stimulation, the subject may be asked to tense certain muscles slightly or perform other simple actions. The electrical activity of the muscles activated by the stimulation will be recorded using metal electrodes taped to the skin over the muscle. In most cases, the study takes less than 3 hours.


Condition
Healthy

U.S. FDA Resources

Study Type:   Observational
Official Title:   The Effect of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Free Will

Further study details as provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):

Estimated Enrollment:   10
Study Start Date:   January 2002
Estimated Study Completion Date:   June 2002

Detailed Description:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on free will to select movement. There have been debates that most of human voluntary movements are reflexive rather than volitional in nature, although most people feel that their movements are freely chosen. This issue is illuminated by previous TMS studies showing external bias of freely chosen movements by TMS. Recently, we tried to confirm these observations using a more reliable method with subthreshold TMS, but failed. Thus, in this study, we are planning to use suprathreshold TMS to test whether this type of stimulation on different motor areas influences free selection of movements or not.

  Eligibility
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes

Criteria

Normal adult volunteers who are 21 years or older will be eligible.

Volunteers who have either any medico-surgical, neurological and psychiatric illnesses, who have been taking any medication with potential influence on nervous system function, who have a pacemaker, an implanted medical pump, a metal plate or a metal object in the skull or eye (for example, after brain surgery), or who have a history of seizure disorder, will be excluded.

  Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00029653

Locations
United States, Maryland
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)    
      Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892

Sponsors and Collaborators
  More Information


Publications:

Study ID Numbers:   020101, 02-N-0101
First Received:   January 16, 2002
Last Updated:   March 3, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:   NCT00029653
Health Authority:   United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):
Frontal Lobe  
Reaction Time  
Movement Preparation  
Motor Threshold  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation  
Motor Cortex
Healthy Volunteer
Normal Control
HV

Study placed in the following topic categories:
Healthy

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on December 03, 2008




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