Brain Activity During Strategic Planning
Completed
Conditions studied: Healthy Volunteers
In brief
This study will locate areas in the brain that help people devise action plans to carry out complex tasks requiring use of strategy. The ability to plan strategically is impaired in patients who have had a stroke affecting the front parts of the brain. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the activity of different areas of the brain during the formulation and execution of plans. Right-handed healthy volunteers between 18 and 60 years of age may be eligible for this study. Participants come to the NIH Clinical Center four to five times to complete the following procedures: Visit 1 - Screening * Medical history * Physical and neurological examinations Visit 2 - MRI brain scan (if one has not been done within the past year) MRI - This test uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of the brain. The scanner is a metal cylinder surrounded by a magnetic field. The subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the scanner, wearing earplugs to muffle loud noises that occur during the scanning. Visits 3 to 5 - Task training sessions and two fMRI scans Functional MRI involves taking MRI scans while the subject performs a task in order to learn about changes in brain regions that are involved in the performance of the task. Subjects are trained in two tasks (see below) and then perform the tasks while in the MRI scanner. * Task 1: The subject presses computer keys in response to the direction of arrows shown on the computer screen. The keys are pressed according to a given set of rules the subject is taught. * Task 2: This task is similar to task 1, but the subject is also asked to remember certain previous actions and responses.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT00728741
- Run by
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
- People needed
- 16
- Starts
- 2008-08-01
- Expected to finish
- 2010-05-26
- Last updated by the study team
- 2017-07-02
Who can join
Age: 18 and older, up to 60. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.
You may not qualify if…
- Subjects with clinically significant abnormal findings on neurological exam in any of the following neurological domains: cognitive, cranial nerve, motor, sensory, cerebellar functions.
- Subjects who are pregnant (as determined by positive urine pregnancy test)
- Subjects with any finding on the MRI safety questionnaire which prevents them from safely undergoing an MRI scan
- Subjects with metallic dental fillings which are likely to cause MRI artifacts
- Subjects with any history of brain tumor, stroke, head trauma or a vascular malformation as obtained by history or from imaging studies
- Subjects with any history of a severe medical condition, such as cardiovascular disease, which would prevent them from lying flat for up to 120 minutes
- Subjects without the capacity to give informed consent
- Subjects with claustrophobia or other restrictions which prevent them from undergoing a scan in a confined space for up to 60 minutes
Where it is running
- National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike — Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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