Trial Review

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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
Help: Registration number
ACTRN12626000408381
Ethics application status
Help: Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
Help: Date submitted
6/03/2026
Date registered
Help: Date registered
1/04/2026
Date last updated
Help: Date last updated
1/04/2026
Date data sharing statement initially provided
Help: Data sharing statement date
1/04/2026
Type of registration
Help: Type of registration
Retrospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Effects of neck muscle vibration on motor planning in healthy young adults
Scientific title
Vibration-induced modulation of movement-related cortical potentials associated with motor planning in healthy young adults
Additional trial identifiers [1] 316715 0
None
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
Trial acronym
Related trial records

Health condition
Health condition(s) studied:
Motor Planning in Healthy Adults 340989 0
Cortical activity associated with voluntary movement preparation 340990 0
Condition category
Condition code
Neurological 337132 337132 0 0
Studies of the normal brain and nervous system

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of the intervention or exposure
The intervention will consist of experimentally induced, high-frequency, low-amplitude mechanical vibration applied to cervical muscles to transiently alter proprioceptive afferent input. Vibration will be delivered using portable mechanical vibration devices affixed to the skin over the right sternocleidomastoid muscle and left cervical extensor muscles using Hypafix tape.
Participants randomly assigned to the active intervention group will receive mechanical vibration at a frequency of 100 Hz with an amplitude of less than 1 mm for a single continuous period of 10 minutes.
The intervention will be delivered once during a single laboratory visit following baseline assessments.
The intervention will be delivered face-to-face on an individual basis in a controlled laboratory environment at a university research facility by trained research personnel with experience in neuromuscular and neurophysiological experimental protocols.
Intervention fidelity will be ensured through the use of identical vibration devices and standardized placement procedures across participants. Adherence will be ensured through direct supervision by research staff, and completion of the full 10-minute stimulation period will be confirmed for all participants.
Intervention code [1] 333400 0
Behaviour
Intervention code [2] 333401 0
Treatment: Other
Description of the comparator or control
The comparator condition is a sham vibration control. Participants assigned to the control group will have identical mechanical vibration devices affixed to the right sternocleidomastoid and left cervical extensor muscles for the same duration (10 minutes) and under the same experimental conditions as the experimental groups however, the devices will not be activated and no mechanical vibration will be delivered. This sham condition controls for device placement, expectation, and experimental context without providing vibratory stimulation.
Control group
Placebo

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 344645 0
Change in movement-related cortical potentials associated with motor preparation (Bereitschaftspotential)
Timepoint [1] 344645 0
Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention
Primary outcome [2] 344836 0
Change in movement-related cortical potentials associated with motor preparation (negative slope)
Timepoint [2] 344836 0
Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention
Primary outcome [3] 344837 0
Change in movement-related cortical potentials associated with motor execution (motor potential)
Timepoint [3] 344837 0
Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention
Secondary outcome [1] 458723 0
Change in movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) latency
Timepoint [1] 458723 0
Baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately post-intervention

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
Participants must be males and females aged 17 – 30, who are attending Ontario Tech University. All participants are required to be healthy and are to be free from chronic or recurrent neck, shoulder, or back pain. All participants will be screened for these inclusion and exclusion criteria using the chronic pain grade scale questionnaire and must have a score of less than 1 to be eligible. Right-handed individuals will be tested due to known differences in cortical excitability and sensorimotor processing between dominant and non-dominant limbs. Participants who score > +40 on the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Deemed right-handed) will be included in this study. Participants that are deemed ambidextrous, but have a strong inclination for right-hand dominance will also be included in the study
Minimum age
17 Years
Maximum age
30 Years
Sex
Both males and females
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
Left-handed participants will be excluded from the study (i.e. < -40 on Edinburgh Handedness Inventory). Participants cannot have any neurological or neuromuscular conditions that are known to impact neural function and/or neural processing (e.g. recurrent or chronic neck pain, ADHD, multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s etc.). All participants will be screened for these inclusion and exclusion criteria using a safety screening checklist.

Study design
Purpose of the study
Treatment
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Allocation concealment was achieved using central randomisation by computer that was prepared prior to data collection and not disclosed to participants. Group allocation was implemented by the investigator at the time of intervention delivery.
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
Participants were randomly assigned to control or vibration using a computer-generated randomisation sequence.
Masking / blinding
Blinded (masking used)
Who is / are masked / blinded?
The people receiving the treatment/s

The people assessing the outcomes
Intervention assignment
Parallel
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Statistical methods / analysis
Movement-related cortical potential amplitudes will be analysed using mixed-model analyses of variance (ANOVA) with factors of group (vibration vs control) and time (baseline vs post-intervention). Statistical significance will be set at p < 0.05.

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Recruiting
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
Actual
26/02/2026
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
21/12/2026
Actual
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
23/12/2026
Actual
Sample size
Target
30
Accrual to date
2
Final
Recruitment outside Australia
Country [1] 27882 0
Canada
State/province [1] 27882 0
Ontario

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 321320 0
Government body
Name [1] 321320 0
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Country [1] 321320 0
Canada
Primary sponsor type
Individual
Name
Prof Bernadette Murphy - Ontario Tech University
Address
Country
Canada
Secondary sponsor category [1] 324052 0
None
Name [1] 324052 0
Address [1] 324052 0
Country [1] 324052 0
Other collaborator category [1] 283868 0
Individual
Name [1] 283868 0
Dr. Imran Niazi - New Zealand College of Chiropractors
Address [1] 283868 0
Country [1] 283868 0
New Zealand

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 319852 0
University of Ontario Institute of Technology Research Ethics Board
Ethics committee address [1] 319852 0
Ethics committee country [1] 319852 0
Canada
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 319852 0
11/08/2025
Approval date [1] 319852 0
27/10/2025
Ethics approval number [1] 319852 0
19517 - 161363

Summary
Brief summary
Trial website
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 148618 0
Prof Bernadette Murphy
Address 148618 0
Ontario Tech University, 2000 Simcoe St North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1G 0C5
Country 148618 0
Canada
Phone 148618 0
+9057218668
Fax 148618 0
Email 148618 0
[email protected]
Contact person for public queries
Name 148619 0
Bernadette Murphy
Address 148619 0
Ontario Tech University, 2000 Simcoe St North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1G 0C5
Country 148619 0
Canada
Phone 148619 0
+9057218668
Fax 148619 0
Email 148619 0
[email protected]
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 148620 0
Bernadette Murphy
Address 148620 0
Ontario Tech University, 2000 Simcoe St North, Oshawa, Ontario, L1G 0C5
Country 148620 0
Canada
Phone 148620 0
+9057218668
Fax 148620 0
Email 148620 0
[email protected]

Data sharing statement
Will the study consider sharing individual participant data?
No
No IPD sharing reason/comment: The outcome measures used in this study use advanced processing and therefore unprocessed data will not be shared since it is not meaningful. We intend to publish averaged processed data for the groups, which have been anonymized.



What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided


Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually
No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically
No additional documents have been identified.