Enhanced Tactile Memory in the Blind

Completed

Conditions studied: Blindness

In brief

This study will determine if the brain regions in blind people that would normally be involved in vision are used instead to remember touch. Blind people have an enhanced sense of touch compared to sighted people, and they also perform better on tests for certain kinds of memory. This study will examine and compare the results of a touch memory test in blind and sighted people to determine what brain areas are involved in responding to touch. Blind people and sighted volunteers between 18 and 80 years of age who have no psychiatric problems or neurological problems (other than blindness) may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical interview and examination. Participants undergo one or both of the following procedures: Behavioral experiment Sighted participants are blindfolded during this experiment. Subjects sit comfortably in front of a table. They are presented with a number of surfaces placed on a table one at a time and are given 10 seconds to feel each surface with the index finger on their dominant hand. They must concentrate and memorize the surfaces as best they can. After a 15-minute break, they are again presented with a series of surfaces and given 10 seconds to feel each one. This time, they must say as quickly as possibly whether the surface is one they touched previously or is a new surface. Functional MRI MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. In this study, subjects undergo MRI scanning of the brain while performing the same touch test described above. For the MRI, the subject lies on a table that slides into the scanner. The MRI machine detects change in the brain regions involved in performing the task.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT00076700
Run by: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
People needed: 45
Starts: 2004-01-01
Expected to finish: 2006-01-01
Last updated by the study team: 2008-03-04

Who can join

Age: any. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

Early Blind Subjects: Only compliant early blind subjects between the ages of 18 and 80 years who have little to no visual perception due to diseases affecting the peripheral components of the visual system, i.e., blind subjects without any further neurological problems, and with normal MRI brain scans, will be selected.
Late Blind Subjects: Only compliant late blind subjects who have lost their vision after age 4 years due to diseases affecting the peripheral components of the visual system, i.e., blind subjects without any further neurological problems, and with normal MRI brain scans, will be selected.
Sighted controls: Only compliant adult healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 80 years with no history of neurological and psychiatric illness who are able to concentrate and to perform simple attention tasks are eligible.
Blind subjects: Early and late blind subjects (aged 18 to 80) will be included in this protocol.
Sighted subjects: Healthy sighted (normal or corrected-to normal vision) matched in age, sex, and handedness to the early blind subjects.

You may not qualify if…

Exclusion criteria for the study will be ny current medical or surgical condition or psychiatric or neurological illness.
Furthermore, any individual who is on medication with potential influence on nervous system function, who has a history of surgery with metallic implants or known history of metallic particles in the eye, cardiac pacemaker, intracardiac lines, neural stimulators, cochlear implants, pregnancy, or history of drug abuse will be excluded from the study.

Where it is running

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) — Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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