Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc.

Code:

NCT03879018

Conditions

Cerebellar Ataxia

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 22 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Reach training with visual feedback

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this study is to test for benefits of reinforcement based training paradigm versus standard practice over weeks for improving reaching movements in people with ataxia.

Conditions

Cerebellar Ataxia

Study ID

NCT03879018

Start date

Aug 1, 2019

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Jan 1, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 1, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 22 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Cerebellar damage from stroke, tumor or degeneration
  • Age 22-80

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Clinical or MRI evidence of damage to extracerebellar brain (e.g. multiple system atrophy)
  • Extrapyramidal symptoms, peripheral vestibular loss, or sensory neuropathy
  • Dementia ( Mini-Mental State exam > 22)
  • Pain that interferes with the tasks
  • Vision loss that interferes with the tasks

Study Design

Enrollment

18 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Reinforcement Training

Reach training with visual feedback. During each training session, participants will first be familiarized with the task and then will reach from a home position to 4 virtual targets that are presented in the front of the participant and within the workspace where most natural arm movements are performed. During training the participant will reach a total of 400 times. For reinforcement training, participants will not see their hand or a cursor, but instead participants will receive target-specific binary feedback after each reach (i.e. based on running average of last 10 reaches to that target). Binary feedback indicates only whether the reach was successful or unsuccessful and provides no specific information about the location of the hand.

experimental: Standard Practice Training

Reach training with visual feedback. During each training session, participants will first be familiarized with the task and then will reach from a home position to 4 virtual targets that are presented in the front of the participant and within the workspace where most natural arm movements are performed. During training the participant will reach a total of 400 times. For standard practice, participants will be able to see a cursor that represents the position of the hand at all times and try to make straight reaches to the targets. This type of feedback provided specific information about the location of the hand.

Interventions

Reach training with visual feedback

Reach training will be accomplished using an Oculus Rift and Touch 3D headset. Active markers will be placed on the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger in order to capture limb movement in real time. During each training session, participants will first be familiarized with the task and then will reach from a home position to 4 virtual targets that are presented in the front of the participant and within the workspace where most natural arm movements are performed.Targets will be presented in a pseudorandom order and participants will reach a total of 400 times

Primary outcome measure

  • Hand path distance during natural reaching to the trained target locations. [ Time Frame: Assessed every study visit week 1 to week 12 ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Anthony J Gonzalez, BS

4439232716agonza30@jhmi.edu

Locations

Motion Analysis Lab in the Kennedy Krieger Institute

Recruiting

Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21205

Contacts

Anthony J Gonzalez, BS

443-923-2716gonzalezan@kennedykrieger.org

Principal Investigator:

Amy J Bastian, PhD, PT

More Information

Sponsor

Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc.

Last update posted

Jul 1, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • Cerebellar Ataxia

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc. on 2026-07-01.