Trunk motor control
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Towards independence: to research the use of upper limb movements to improve trunk motor control after spinal cord injury.
IRAS ID
196301
Contact name
Paul H Strutton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
It is a challenge for people with incomplete mid-thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) to keep their upper body stable in order to carry out tasks using the arms, such as dressing, transferring and locomotion using wheelchairs. Poor trunk control consequently has deleterious effects on activities of daily living and independence. Although there is a growing appreciation among clinicians and patients as to the functional association between the trunk and upper limbs, the underlying mechanisms and neural pathways involved remain largely unexplored. This project aims to extend our work on healthy population to investigate the extent to which upper limb tasks are able to facilitate the neural pathways controlling the trunk muscles after SCI and to reveal the mechanisms involved. We will assess whether such facilitation is retained after exercise-based repetitions of the task and finally, whether this leads to functional improvements in trunk control, such as sitting balance and reaching.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0091
Date of REC Opinion
15 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion