Protocol Number: 06-N-0023

Title:

Brain Networks Responsible for Self-Agency: An fMRI study

Number:

06-N-0023

Summary:

This study will examine how people consider their actions to be under their own control or not. The term to describe this feeling of being in control of one's own actions is called "agency." The sense of agency becomes impaired in disorders such as schizophrenia, in which people may feel, for example, as if someone else is controlling their thoughts.

Healthy, right-handed normal volunteers 18 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history, neurological examination, pregnancy test for women of childbearing age, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. During the procedure, the subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the scanner (a metal cylinder surrounded by a magnetic field) and may be asked to lie still for up to 30 minutes at a time.

Participants undergo functional MRI (fMRI). This procedure is the same as a regular MRI, except it is done while the subject performs tasks. This enables researchers to learn about changes in brain regions involved in those tasks. The fMRI scan for this study takes about 90 minutes.

Before beginning the fMRI procedure, subjects receive training using a Cyber glove device. This device allows the researchers to measure the subject's finger movements and display them on a screen for the subject to view. The subjects are asked to make hand movements by slowly opening and closing the hand while watching the computer displaying an artificial hand. During the movements, the subjects' level of control is adjusted and they are asked to describe how much control they think they have over the hand on the screen. When the subjects become comfortable using the Cyber glove, they enter the MRI scanner to begin the test scan.

For the fMRI, subjects are given visual instruction on when to begin opening and closing their right hand. They move continuously for a 30-second block and then have a 20-second rest period. This is repeated, with subjects provided different levels of control over the displayed hand in each block. The entire test consists of four runs, each run consisting of 12 blocks lasting about 10 minutes. When the fMRI scanning is finished, the brain is scanned once more using regular MRI.

Sponsoring Institute:

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Recruitment Detail

Type: Participants currently recruited/enrolled

Gender: Male & Female

Referral Letter Required: No

Population Exclusion(s): Children

Eligibility Criteria:

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

- Subjects age 18 and older.

- Subjects must be right-hand dominant (For healthy controls).

- Patients diagnosed with a probable or definite functional movement disorder by an HMCS physician or diagnosed with complete or near-complete sensory neuropathy.

- Subjects willing to abstain from caffeine or alcohol for 48 hours prior to the fMRI scanning.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

- Subjects with any abnormal findings on neurological exam.

- Subjects with a positive urine pregnancy test.

- Subjects who are pregnant.

- 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.

- Patients with excessive movements at rest.

- Patients with symptom remission.

Special Instructions:

Currently Not Provided

Keywords:

fMRI

Self-Agency

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Voluntary Movement

Recruitment Keyword(s):

Healthy Volunteer

HV

Condition(s):

Brain

Investigational Drug(s):

None

Investigational Device(s):

None

Intervention(s):

None

Supporting Site:

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

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):

Gallagher I I. Philosophical conceptions of the self: implications for cognitive science.Trends Cogn Sci. 2000 Jan;4(1):14-21.

Kircher TT, Leube DT. Self-consciousness, self-agency, and schizophrenia. Conscious Cogn. 2003 Dec;12(4):656-69.

Blakemore SJ, Frith CD, Wolpert DM. The cerebellum is involved in predicting the sensory consequences of action. Neuroreport.2001 Jul 3;12(9):1879-84.

• Questions about participating in a study, please contact the Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office, CC.
• Technical questions regarding the Clinical Center web site, please contact the Department of Networks and Applications, CC.

Search The Studies | Help | Questions |
Clinical Center Home | NIH Home

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Bethesda, Maryland 20892. Last update: 09/20/2008