Assessing whether Short-interval intracortical inhibition (T-SICI) may be an early biomarker of MND.
Principal Investigator: Prof Martin Koltzenburg
Lead Institution: University College London
MND Association Funding: £189,800
Funding dates: November 2024 - November 2026
About the project
Previous research has shown that a test called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can detect changes in the brain before physical signs of MND begin. Muscles require stimulation in order to move. Electrical impulses come from the brain to the spinal cord and then to muscles, which then allow them to move. Sometimes there may be impulses which are deemed not useful or relevant and these signals are stopped (inhibited) from going further. TMS can be used to measure all of these signals. In MND, it has been shown that less irrelevant signals are stopped, and this can lead to toxicity. This research will compare people with MND and healthy controls to see if TMS can be used to diagnose MND and monitor disease progression. The researchers will then undertake a Phase 1 clinical trial, in healthy controls, to access how safe and useful the new TMS biomarker is. This work could lead to further studies to test the TMS biomarker in people with MND. If the results are positive, it may lead to a future trial to look at how the biomarker levels change throughout the disease and how this may be linked to changes in symptoms and function.
What could this mean for MND research?
This study could help to establish a new biomarker of MND and may enable diagnoses to be made in earlier stages of the disease. Establishing this TMS biomarker could mean that it might be used in future clinical trials as a measure of effectiveness of new potential treatments and show whether the drug is working as expected in the brain.
Project code: 892-791