Can decades of lifting weights keep the Brain's muscle signals young?
NCT ID NCT06820658
First seen Aug 05, 2026 · Last updated Aug 06, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study compares how well the brain communicates with muscles in adults aged 60-85 who are either long-term resistance exercisers or untrained. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electromyography (EMG), researchers will measure the strength of nerve-to-muscle signals. The goal is to understand whether regular exercise preserves the nervous system's control over muscles in older age.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Neuromuscular testing using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Electromyography (EMG), plus DEXA scans
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could reveal how lifelong exercise shapes the brain's control of muscles in older adults, potentially guiding future fitness or rehabilitation strategies.
- What could go wrong
- This is an observational comparison, not a treatment trial, so it won't directly change health outcomes. Results may be limited by the small sample size and the specific age group studied.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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About 80 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Feb 2025
- Expected to finish
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Oct 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
A total of 80 participants will be equally divided into resistance-trained and untrained groups. Participants will be matched for age, sex, and BMI. Participants are to have a fasting blood sugar under 140 mg/dL. Untrained men and women will have a hip to waist ratio of \>0.85 in women or \>80cm and \>0.90 in men or \>94cm. Participants will be from the Rochester Minnesota area aged 60-85 with a BMI 30-38.
- Ages
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60 to 85 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria * Participant must have a BMI between 18.5 and 38 * Participant be aged between 60 and 85 * Regularly exercises at least 5 days a week a minimum of 30 minutes per day. * Engages in less than 2 days of exercise less than 30 minutes each day. * Participant must use the Mayo Clinic patient online portal. * Participant must be able to understand English without the need of an interpreter. * Must be willing to be contacted for research * Participant must be willing and capable to provide consent. * Participants shall be generally healthy as deemed acceptable by the principal investigator * Men and women will be participant in this study. Women cannot be pregnant during this study. Exclusion Criteria: * Surgical History - Gastric surgery, pacemaker placement, weight loss surgery, metabolic and obstetric surgery. * Smokers will be excluded from the study. * Medications: Insulins, common diabetic drugs, anti-hyperglycemic drugs, beta blockers cardiac selective, beta-blockers noncardiac selective, oral steroids, opioids anti-depressants, and hormones * Conidiations and Diagnosis: Disorder of coronary artery, hepatic failure, gastroparesis, disorder of the adrenal gland, drug related disorders, substance abuse, malignant neoplastic disease, psychotic disorders, disorder of skeletal muscle, finding of brain, chronic kidney disease, renal failure syndrome, disorder of pulmonary circulation, cerebrovascular disease, neuro developmental disorder, disorder of immune function, disorder of central nervous system. * Participants are not to have an abnormal value as part of a lipid panel within the past 6 months. * Participant will be excluded if they have recreational drug use or a history of alcohol abuse * Inability or unwillingness of individual or legal guardian/representative to give written informed consent. * Current or past participation within a specified timeframe in another clinical trial, as warranted by the administration of this intervention. * Participant will be excluded if they have epilepsy. * Participant will be excluded if they have cranial metal/device implants * Participant will be excluded if they are pregnant
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Mayo Clinic
RECRUITINGRochester, Minnesota, 55905, United States
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