Safety and Tolerability of Low Motoneuron Stimulation Via Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Spinal Muscular Atrophy
About This Trial
There is a general physiological rule that any organ or system needs some minimal amount of activity to prevent its atrophy or degeneration. Although the relevance of that rule to exercises in neuromuscular patients and for SMA in particular is not definitely proven, clinical observations seem to support this assumption. Also there are several experimental studies which provide additional support for utility of exercise for SMA. However, making regular exercises may be very challenging with SMA not only due to physical limitations, but due to psychological either. While being considered as safe and well tolerated intervention, TMS is able to mimic effects of real physical exercises, at least at the level of low motoneuron, it also provides several advantages. For example, possibility to exercise non-collaborative infants, minimization of psychological motivation impact in adults and/or ability to involve very weak muscle groups.
Who May Be Eligible (Plain English)
Original Eligibility Criteria
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Treatments Being Tested
High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation targeting the primary motor cortex (M1) of the limbs, delivered at a frequency above 5 Hz and an intensity of 90-100% of the resting motor threshold, across 10 sessions with up to 2400 stimuli per session, is a standard intervention used in various neurological disorders. However, its effects have not been studied in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
lumbar puncture
Cerebrospinal fluid sampling to measure SMN protein and neurofilament concentrations before and after the TMS intervention.