NIH Clinical Research Studies

Protocol Number: 04-CH-0250

Active Accrual, Protocols Recruiting New Patients

Title:
Event Related Potentials in Infants and Adults
Number:
04-CH-0250
Summary:
This study will explore the development of visual perception and the brain activity that underlies it. It will examine electrical activity in the brain while people are processing characteristics of the visual environment, and how that processing might change with development.

Infants who are within 2 weeks on either side of their 4-month birthday may be eligible for this study. A parent of the child also participates.

Parents who join the study are asked basic questions about their family, such as its size and ethnic make-up, their infant's birth date, complications of pregnancy or delivery, and any health problems of the infant, such as congenital developmental disorders or visual abnormalities.

Each family is seen at the clinic one time for a 45-minute visit. The infant is outfitted with an elastic net containing many small sensors that make contact with the scalp. He or she is then shown pictures on a computer screen. The sensors in the head net are connected to a computer that records the infant's brain activity while the infant watches the pictures on the screen. The head net is moistened with warm water before being applied, and is not uncomfortable to wear. Towels are available throughout the session to dry any excess moisture from the net.

Sponsoring Institute:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Recruitment Detail
Type: Participants currently recruited/enrolled
Gender: Male & Female
Referral Letter Required: No
Population Exclusion(s): None

Eligibility Criteria:
INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Participants will be selected for inclusion in this study and each to follow on the basis of age, gestational status (i.e., full-term vs. pre-term birth), visual normality, and general health status. Once the recruitment letters have been mailed, a brief screening interview will be conducted with all parents who call to express an interest in participating. These parents will be asked about their infants' birth date, expected due date, and any diagnoses of severe perinatal complications, visual abnormalities, and congenital developmental disorders. The initial group will be recruited to participate within two weeks on either side of their 4-month birthday. Infants with a gestational age of less than 36 weeks, and/or those with histories of severe perinatal complications, visual abnormalities, or congenital developmental disorders, or a family history of color-vision deficiency will not be recruited for participation. Equal numbers of males and females will be recruited to participate.

Special Instructions:
Currently Not Provided
Keywords:
Functional Brian Activity
Visual Perception
Selective Attention
Information Processing
Age Differences
Recruitment Keyword(s):
Healthy Volunteer
HV
Condition(s):
Healthy
Investigational Drug(s):
None
Investigational Device(s):
None
Intervention(s):
None
Supporting Site:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Contact(s):
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

Citation(s):
ADAMS OS, FITTS PM, RAPPAPORT M, WEINSTEIN M. Relations among some measures of pattern discriminability. J Exp Psychol. 1954 Aug;48(2):81-8.

Bell MA. Power changes in infant EEG frequency bands during a spatial working memory task. Psychophysiology. 2002 Jul;39(4):450-8.

BERLYNE DE. The influence of the albedo and complexity of stimuli on visual fixation in the human infant. Br J Psychol. 1958 Nov;49(4):315-8.

Active Accrual, Protocols Recruiting New Patients

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