Physiology of Volition Studied With Nerve Block

Withdrawn before enrolling

Conditions studied: Healthy Volunteers

In brief

Background: \- The experience of volition that accompanies voluntary movement can be divided into the sense of will, or deciding to move, and the sense of agency, or feeling that the movement just made was self-generated. Very little is known regarding the neurological origin of this sense of volition. Previous research has shown that a particular part of the brain, the parietal lobe, is involved in our inner sense that we control the movements we make. Researchers are interested in determining if this sense relies on sensory information from moving fingers reaching the parietal lobe. Objectives: \- To determine the brain regions responsible for the sense of volition and the associated sense of agency. Eligibility: \- Healthy right-handed individuals between 18 and 55 years of age. Design: * The study will involve a screening visit and two testing visits. The screening visit will last 30 minutes to 1 hour, and the testing visits will each last 3 to 4 hours. * Participants will be screened with a physical examination and medical history. * At each testing visit, participants will have a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, electroencephalography (EEG), and electromyography (EMG). The MRI scan and EEG will be done during a movement task that involves the thumb, second finger, and fifth finger of one hand. EMG will be used to monitor movements and muscle activity. * During the second testing visit, participants will receive a nerve block using anesthetic, followed by the MRI, EEG, EMG and movement task. The nerve block will temporarily numb and prevent the movement of parts of the hand and fingers. * After the MRI scan and EEG recording, participants will be asked to rate how much control they felt they had over choosing whether to move, and how much control they felt they had in actually making the movements.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01143506

Run by

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

People needed

0

Starts

2010-06-01

Expected to finish

2012-01-04

Last updated by the study team

2017-07-02

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 55. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may not qualify if…

• Healthy subjects younger than 18 years and older than 55 will be excluded.
• Subjects with MRI findings consistent with organic brain lesions such as brain tumors, stroke, trauma or AVMs will be excluded.
• Subjects with active significant medical or neurological disorders, or active Axis I psychiatric disorders, or requiring continuous treatment with drugs that affect the central nervous system will be excluded.
• We will not include pregnant women because safety of high magnetic field to fetus is not established.
• Subjects allergic to local anesthetics such as bupivacaine will be excluded.
• Subjects unable to have an MRI due to claustrophobia or contraindications to MR scanning will be excluded.
• Subjects who are left-handed will be excluded.
• Subjects will be excluded who are taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications such as warfarin, heparin, clopidogrel, ticlopidine, or fondiparinux, or vitamin E in amounts greater than 1600 IU per day.
• If subjects are taking daily aspirin therapy, this must be held for 7 days prior to the nerve block. If subjects are taking daily NSAIDs, these must be held for 12 hours prior to the nerve block. If these medications cannot be held for these periods, the subject will be excluded.

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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