Protocol Number: 03-N-0195

Title:

Functional Neuroimaging of Social Cognitive and Emotional Processing: Technical and Cognitive Issues

Number:

03-N-0195

Summary:

This study will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify brain regions involved in performing certain tasks, especially those involving emotions. MRI is a diagnostic tool that uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of structural and chemical changes in the brain. The study will also examine which MRI techniques are best to use when scanning brain areas involved in different emotions.

Healthy normal volunteers between 18 and 40 years of age who are right-handed and are native English speakers may be eligible for this study. Individuals with a history of neurological disease, post-traumatic stress disorder or other psychiatric disorder, or who have a history of physical or sexual abuse may not participate. Candidates will be screened with a written questionnaire and a medical history, including psychiatric and neurological information.

Participants will perform tasks involving emotions while undergoing MRI scanning. For this procedure, the subject lies on a table in a narrow metal cylinder (the scanner) containing a magnetic field. Scanning time varies from 20 minutes to 3 hours, with most scans lasting between 45 and 90 minutes. The subject is asked to lie still for up to 10 minutes at a time. During the scan, the subject performs simple tasks involving the viewing of pictures on a screen. Other tasks involve viewing pictures and responding to them by pressing buttons. Some pictures are violent or pornographic, while others are pleasant to view. Of a total of 162 pictures, 30 percent are categorized as graphic and possibly disturbing.

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): Children

Eligibility Criteria:

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

The study population will consist of young healthy volunteers.

Age range: 18 to 40

Right-handedness (some left-handed subjects may be recruited for preliminary behavioral studies)

Native English speakers

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Individuals with a neurological or psychiatric history or medical condition that would compromise our interpretation of the fMRI results will be excluded.

Individuals with a current or past history of post-traumatic stress disorder or other psychiatric disorder or individuals with a history of physical or sexual abuse will be excluded as they may be disturbed by viewing graphic pictures.

We will exclude pregnant subjects and recruit women of childbearing age only after negative result of a pregnancy test (performed at the NIH Clinical Center within 24 hours prior MRI scanning) because safety of MR imaging procedures during pregnancy has not been definitively proved.

Subjects under the age of 18 are excluded because we are not studying the developing brain.

Special Instructions: Currently Not Provided

Keywords:

fMRI

Susceptibility Artifacts

Prefrontal Cortex

Temporal Lobes

Methodology

Recruitment Keywords:

Healthy Volunteer

HV

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:

Belliveau JW, et al. Functional mapping of the human visual cortex by magnetic resonance imaging. Science. 1991 Nov 1;254(5032):716-9. PMID: 1948051.

Belliveau JW, et al. Functional cerebral imaging by susceptibility-contrast NMR. Magn Reson Med. 1990 Jun;14(3):538-46. PMID: 2355835.

Bodner M, Kroger J, Fuster JM. Auditory memory cells in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroreport. 1996 Aug 12;7(12):1905-8. PMID: 8905689.

• Questions about participating in a study, please contact the Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office, CC.
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