Examining blood flow in the brain during cognitive tasks

Regional Cerebral Blood Flow Studies of Object Perception, Identification, Localization, and Memory

This study is testing how blood flow in the brain changes when healthy adults do tasks that involve thinking and memory.

Quick facts

• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 4100 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years to 65 Years
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) (nih)
• Locations: 1 site (Bethesda, Maryland)
• Trial ID: NCT00001360 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This study aims to investigate how blood flow changes in the brain while healthy volunteers perform various cognitive tasks using advanced brain imaging techniques. Participants aged 18-65 will engage in tasks related to visual perception, memory, and decision-making while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The goal is to understand the neural systems involved in cognition and how they relate to behavior. By combining behavioral performance with neuroimaging data, researchers hope to uncover insights into the brain's functional organization.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal candidates for this study are healthy adults aged 18 to 65 with at least a high school education.

Not a fit: Patients with major medical, neurological, or psychiatric illnesses, or those with serious vision or hearing problems may not benefit from this study.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this research could enhance our understanding of cognitive processes and potentially inform treatments for cognitive impairments.

How similar studies have performed: Other studies using fMRI and MEG have shown success in understanding brain function, making this approach well-established in cognitive neuroscience.

Eligibility criteria

* INCLUSION CRITERIA:
* Healthy adults, with at least a high school education, aged 18 to 65 years, will be recruited to participate in the study.
* Able to read and write in English to guarantee understanding of all written and spoken instructions, which are in English.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Subjects will be excluded if they:

* have evidence of, or a history of:
* major medical, neurological or psychiatric illness
* serious head injury
* learning disability-drug or alcohol abuse or dependence in the past 3 months, except nicotine

-are taking prescription drugs or supplements that may affect brain function-

-have serious vision or hearing problems

In addition to the above, additional exclusion criteria apply for all MRI studies:

* Female subjects who are pregnant or have a positive pregnancy test 24 hours prior to an experiment will be excluded from neuroimaging studies.
* All subjects will be questioned prior to MRI scanning for possible occupational exposure to metal slivers or shavings, which may have become accidentally lodged in the tissues of the head or neck. Subjects with surgical clips or shrapnel in or near the brain or blood vessels, subjects with cochlear implants, subjects with any metallic body in the eye or CNS, and subjects with any form of implant wire or metal device which may concentrate radiofrequency fields will be excluded from MRI scanning experiments because of possible risks during MRI scanning. Those whose history is suggestive of such a problem will also be excluded from the MRI portion of the experiments. They may still participate in the behavioral and MEG experiments.
* Subjects unable to lie flat on their back for up to 3 hours may not be eligible to participate in MRI scans.

Where this trial is running

Bethesda, Maryland

• National Institutes of Health Clinical Center — Bethesda, Maryland, United States (RECRUITING)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Christopher I Baker, Ph.D. — National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Study coordinator: NIMH LBC Volunteer

Conditions: Healthy Volunteer, Cognition, Vision, Cortex, Visual Processing, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Natural History