Clinical trials

The goal of this observational study is to better understand fatigue after stroke. Many people feel ongoing tiredness months or years after a stroke. This fatigue may affect daily activities, work, and social life. It does not always improve with rest. This study aims to answer these questions: How do participants describe their fatigue? How strong and how often does it occur? How does it affect daily life and quality of life? What strategies do participants use to manage it? About 20 to 30 adults living in French-speaking Switzerland who have had a stroke will take part. Participants will: Complete one anonymous questionnaire online or on paper. Answer questions about their fatigue and daily life. Share their experience in their own words. The questionnaire takes about 15 to 20 minutes. There are no medical tests, treatments, or follow-up visits. Participation is voluntary. Participants may stop at any time. No names or identifying information are collected. The results may help health professionals better understand post-stroke fatigue and improve rehabilitation care.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of long-term disability worldwide. Many individuals who survive a stroke continue to experience weakness and reduced control of one arm, even months or years after the event. These motor impairments significantly affect independence, daily activities, and quality of life. Despite rehabilitation efforts, recovery of upper limb function remains incomplete for many patients. Motor recovery after stroke depends on the brain's ability to reorganize itself, a process known as neuroplasticity. Recent research suggests that motor learning and brain recovery are influenced not only by activity in the primary motor cortex (M1), but also by its functional connectivity with other brain regions, particularly the parietal cortex (PC). Strengthening communication between these regions may enhance motor recovery. This study aims to investigate a novel, non-invasive brain stimulation approach called intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS). Unlike traditional stimulation methods that target a single brain region, this study uses a multifocal stimulation protocol targeting both the primary motor cortex and the parietal cortex. The stimulation is combined with structured motor training using an interactive tablet-based rehabilitation device (REAtouch®Lite 2), designed to improve arm movement through goal-directed reaching tasks. The study is a single-center, randomized, sham-controlled, triple-blind clinical trial with parallel groups. Thirty-six individuals with chronic stroke-related upper limb impairment will be randomly assigned to receive either active multifocal iTBS or sham (placebo) stimulation. Both groups will complete identical motor training sessions. In addition, ten healthy participants will complete the same motor training protocol (without brain stimulation) to provide reference data. Participants will attend six visits over approximately 10 days. Assessments will include motor performance tests using the interactive tablet, a standardized clinical motor scale (Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Upper Extremity), and resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain connectivity changes. The primary outcome is improvement in motor performance between baseline and one week after the intervention. Secondary outcomes include short-term motor improvements, retention of learning, changes in movement quality, and changes in brain functional connectivity. This study seeks to determine whether combining multifocal brain stimulation with targeted motor training can enhance motor learning and promote better recovery of arm function after stroke. If effective, this approach could contribute to the development of more precise, network-based neurorehabilitation strategies.

Adolescence is a critical period for the onset and maintenance of anxiety disorders, which raises the importance of intervening early; one possibility of doing so is via digital interventions. At least two lines of research have been explored in the past years in this area. First, studies have tested the anxiolytic effects of casual video games, hypothesizing that, through the induction of flow, these games can effectively distract individuals from anxiety-related thoughts and feelings. Second, the bidirectional link between poor attentional control and higher anxiety has led to the design of novel interventions aiming to improve attentional control such as working memory training studies. Importantly, action video games, classified as a distinct gaming genre, have been shown to enhance attentional control. In this study, we aim to compare the effects of action video game play and casual game play to a no-training group, assessing their potential to alleviate anxiety when delivered entirely online. The goal of this three- arms randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility of a 6-week video game training intervention to reduce adolescent anxiety-related symptoms. We will also examine the efficacy of the proposed treatment when entirely deployed at adolescents' home.

How to optimally stimulate the developing brain is still unclear. Executive functions (EF) exhibited substantially stronger far transfer effects in children who learned to play a musical instrument than in children who acquired other arts. What is crucially lacking is a large-scale, long-term genuine randomized controlled trial (RCT) in cognitive neuroscience, comparing musical instrumental training (MIP) to another art form and a control group. Collected data of this proposal will allow, using machine learning, to build a data-driven multivariate model of children's interconnected brain and EF development over the first 2 years of their academic curriculum (6-8 years), with or without music or other art training.