NIH Clinical Research Studies

Protocol Number: 02-N-0223

Active Accrual, Protocols Recruiting New Patients

Title:
fMRI Languages Studies In Young Children
Number:
02-N-0223
Summary:
This study will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate language function in children-that is, how language skills such as naming objects, understanding spoken language and reading are organized in the brain. The study focuses on children between 4 and 7 years old. Children 8 to 12 years old and adults will be studied before the younger children to test study paradigms appropriate for pre-literate children. The results of this study will help evaluate the usefulness of MRI in identifying language function and location and may improve the treatment of children with seizures.

Right-handed, native English-speaking adults and children between 4 and 12 years of age may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a routine neurological examination. Children will also undergo neuropsychological testing (standard tests of language, memory, perception and attention) either at the screening visit or at a later time. Parents will fill out a form to identify children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. These children will be excluded form the study.

All participants will undergo MRI scanning of the brain while performing a task designed to test a language skill, such as identifying a picture or listening to or reading a word. The MRI detects changes in blood properties in the areas of the brain that perform each task. Before the MRI, children will be rehearsed for the tests and will have a session in the scanner to know what to expect and feel more at ease during the actual test. The time in the MRI machine is usually between 15 and 20 minutes, but will be no more than 40 minutes for children 8 to 12 years old, and not more than 20 minutes for younger children. Children may be requested to have up to five MRI sessions to test different brain functions or confirm findings.

Sponsoring Institute:
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Recruitment Detail
Type: Active Accrual Of New Subjects
Gender: Male & Female
Referral Letter Required: No
Population Exclusion(s): None

Eligibility Criteria:
INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Right handed (Edinburgh Handedness Inventory).

Native English speaker.

Ages 4 - adult will be included.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Medical or technical contraindications to MRI procedures (e.g. no braces, pacemakers, cochlear devices, surgical clips, etc).

History of neurologic or psychiatric disease or a learning or attentional disorder.

School performance one year below grade level.

CNS active medications.

Pregnancy.

Claustrophobia.

Inability to comply with the protocol.

Volunteers will also be asked if they have a history of dry or irritated eyes and informed this may increase the risk of eye irritation and discomfort in the 3T scanner.

Special Instructions: Currently Not Provided
Keywords:
Brain
Imaging
Pediatrics
Mapping
Development
Recruitment Keywords:
Healthy Volunteer
Language
HV
Normal Control
Conditions:
Healthy
Investigational Drug(s):
None
Investigational Device(s):
None

Contacts:
Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office
Building 61
10 Cloister Court
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-4754
Toll Free: 1-800-411-1222
TTY: 301-594-9774 (local),1-866-411-1010 (toll free)
Fax: 301-480-9793

Electronic Mail:prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov

Citations:
Barnes PD Imaging of the central nervous system in pediatrics and adolescence Pediatr Clin North Am 1992 Aug;39(4):743-76 Review PMID: 1635805

Benson RR, FitzGerald DB, LeSueur LL, Kennedy DN, Kwong KK, Buchbinder BR, Davis TL, others, Language dominance determined by whole brain functional MRI in patients with brain lesions Neurology 1999 Mar 10;52(4):798-809PMID: 10078731

Binder JR, Rao SM, Hammeke TA, Frost JA, Bandettini PA, Jesmanowicz A, Hyde JS Lateralized human brain language systems demonstrated by task subtraction functional magnetic resonance imaging Arch Neurol 1995 Jun;52(6):593-601PMID: 7763208

Active Accrual, Protocols Recruiting New Patients

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