HealthyNCT00006285
Use of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to Study Visual Attention
An observational study of Healthy, run by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to learn more about how the brain allows people to focus on important objects and filter out unimportant ones when looking at visual images. Our senses provide us with a vast amount of information at any given moment in time. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 20 to 65 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Healthy
- How many people
- 30 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 14 Sep 2000to 1 Apr 2002
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 20 to 65 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- All subjects will be healthy, right-handed volunteers between the ages of 20 and 65.
- Subjects must have normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
Who cannot join
- Pregnant women will be excluded.
- Subjects with a personal or family history of seizures will be excluded.
- Subjects with a history of neurologic disease, ocular foreign body, increased intracranial pressure, open head injury or significant closed head injury will be excluded.
- Subjects with cochlear implants, implanted brain stimulators, aneurysm clips or other metal in the head (except mouth) will be excluded.
- Subjects taking tricyclic anti-depressants, neuroleptic agents or other drugs that lower the seizure threshold will be excluded.
- Subjects with a history of illicit drug use or who are abusing or withdrawing from alcohol abuse will be excluded.
- Subjects with a history of a major psychiatric disorder will be excluded.
- Subjects with implanted medication pumps, pacemakers, intracardiac lines or significant heart disease will be excluded.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
About this study
Official title: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies of Visual Attention
The purpose of this study is to learn more about how the brain allows people to focus on important objects and filter out unimportant ones when looking at visual images.
Our senses provide us with a vast amount of information at any given moment in time. For example, visual scenes contain many different objects that cannot be processed simultaneously because of the limited processing capacity of the brain's visual system. Evidence suggests that a a network of brain regions selects relevant information and filters out irrelevant information when people view cluttered visual scenes. This study will use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine how the different brain regions involved in attentional control and filtering interact.
Participants in this study will undergo computer tests, an MRI scan, and TMS. During the MRI, participants will look at pictures and count objects appearing on a screen. During the TMS, participants will perform a computer test. Participants' ability to pay attention will be tested with and without TMS. Participants may be asked to return for additional tests in the future....
Read the detailed description
Our senses provide us with a vast amount of information at any given moment in time. For example, visual scenes contain many different objects that cannot all be processed simultaneously because of the limited processing capacity of the visual system. Therefore, attentional mechanisms are required to select relevant objects and filter out irrelevant ones. There is converging evidence from single-cell recording and lesion studies in monkeys and functional brain imaging studies in humans that irrelevant information from cluttered visual scenes is filtered out in extrastriate visual cortex. Functional brain imaging studies also suggest that these attentional filtering mechanisms are mediated by top-down feedback signals arising in higher-order areas in frontal and parietal cortex. However, it is not clear from these studies whether these frontal and parietal brain regions are functionally significant in attentional control of behavior.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over a particular cortical region can interfere with cognitive processing in that region, thereby creating a virtual disruption in the intact human cerebral cortex. Hence, this tool can be used to determine if a brain region is functionally involved in the performance of a given cognitive function. In the proposed study, we wish to use TMS to test the hypothesis that attentional filter mechanisms operating in extrastriate cortex are under "top-down" control by regions in the frontal and parietal cortex. Our approach will use a combination of TMS and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
First, subjects will participate in an fMRI experiment (93-M-0170) designed to localize the cortical regions of interest (ROIs) that are involved with attentional processing for each subject. Second, TMS will be used to create transient virtual disruptions in frontal and parietal ROIs of normal volunteers while they perform a task requiring spatial attention. We hypothesize that, when TMS is used to interfere with attentional processing, subjects will show impaired performance in a task that requires them to filter out irrelevant visual information. In contrast, performance during TMS should not suffer in a control task in which no irrelevant information needs to be filtered out.
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Keywords
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Parietal Lobe, fMRI, Cognition, Perception, Cortical Stimulation, Spatial Attention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted18 Sep 2000 (estimated)
- Study start14 Sep 2000
- Primary completion1 Apr 2002
- Study completion1 Apr 2002
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (3)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for HealthyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)The sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Enrolment
- 30 participants
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Sponsor type
- US National Institutes of Health
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00006285
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 000177
- Other IDs
- 00-M-0177
- Status last verified
- 8 Jun 2009
- First submitted
- 16 Sep 2000
- Last updated
- 2 Jul 2017
- Results posted
- No
Publications
Ashbridge E, Walsh V, Cowey A. Temporal aspects of visual search studied by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Neuropsychologia. 1997 Aug;35(8):1121-31. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(97)00003-1.
PubMed 9256377Amassian VE, Cracco RQ, Maccabee PJ, Cracco JB, Rudell AP, Eberle L. Transcranial magnetic stimulation in study of the visual pathway. J Clin Neurophysiol. 1998 Jul;15(4):288-304. doi: 10.1097/00004691-199807000-00002.
PubMed 9736464Chen R, Gerloff C, Classen J, Wassermann EM, Hallett M, Cohen LG. Safety of different inter-train intervals for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and recommendations for safe ranges of stimulation parameters. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1997 Dec;105(6):415-21. doi: 10.1016/s0924-980x(97)00036-2.
PubMed 9448642
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 2 Jul 2017. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies of Visual Attention
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00006285
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 000177
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Keywords
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Parietal Lobe, fMRI, Cognition, Perception, Cortical Stimulation, Spatial Attention
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 30 participants
- Lead sponsor
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)US National Institutes of Health
- Study start
- 14 Sep 2000
- Primary completion
- 1 Apr 2002 (actual)
- Study completion
- 1 Apr 2002 (actual)
- First posted
- 18 Sep 2000 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of this study is to learn more about how the brain allows people to focus on important objects and filter out unimportant ones when looking at visual images.
Our senses provide us with a vast amount of information at any given moment in time. For example, visual scenes contain many different objects that cannot be processed simultaneously because of the limited processing capacity of the brain's visual system. Evidence suggests that a a network of brain regions selects relevant information and filters out irrelevant information when people view cluttered visual scenes. This study will use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine how the different brain regions involved in attentional control and filtering interact.
Participants in this study will undergo computer tests, an MRI scan, and TMS. During the MRI, participants will look at pictures and count objects appearing on a screen. During the TMS, participants will perform a computer test. Participants' ability to pay attention will be tested with and without TMS. Participants may be asked to return for additional tests in the future....
Detailed description
Our senses provide us with a vast amount of information at any given moment in time. For example, visual scenes contain many different objects that cannot all be processed simultaneously because of the limited processing capacity of the visual system. Therefore, attentional mechanisms are required to select relevant objects and filter out irrelevant ones. There is converging evidence from single-cell recording and lesion studies in monkeys and functional brain imaging studies in humans that irrelevant information from cluttered visual scenes is filtered out in extrastriate visual cortex. Functional brain imaging studies also suggest that these attentional filtering mechanisms are mediated by top-down feedback signals arising in higher-order areas in frontal and parietal cortex. However, it is not clear from these studies whether these frontal and parietal brain regions are functionally significant in attentional control of behavior.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over a particular cortical region can interfere with cognitive processing in that region, thereby creating a virtual disruption in the intact human cerebral cortex. Hence, this tool can be used to determine if a brain region is functionally involved in the performance of a given cognitive function. In the proposed study, we wish to use TMS to test the hypothesis that attentional filter mechanisms operating in extrastriate cortex are under "top-down" control by regions in the frontal and parietal cortex. Our approach will use a combination of TMS and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
First, subjects will participate in an fMRI experiment (93-M-0170) designed to localize the cortical regions of interest (ROIs) that are involved with attentional processing for each subject. Second, TMS will be used to create transient virtual disruptions in frontal and parietal ROIs of normal volunteers while they perform a task requiring spatial attention. We hypothesize that, when TMS is used to interfere with attentional processing, subjects will show impaired performance in a task that requires them to filter out irrelevant visual information. In contrast, performance during TMS should not suffer in a control task in which no irrelevant information needs to be filtered out.
Study design
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 20 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- All subjects will be healthy, right-handed volunteers between the ages of 20 and 65.
- Subjects must have normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
Key exclusion criteria (8 listed)
- Pregnant women will be excluded.
- Subjects with a personal or family history of seizures will be excluded.
- Subjects with a history of neurologic disease, ocular foreign body, increased intracranial pressure, open head injury or significant closed head injury will be excluded.
- Subjects with cochlear implants, implanted brain stimulators, aneurysm clips or other metal in the head (except mouth) will be excluded.
- Subjects taking tricyclic anti-depressants, neuroleptic agents or other drugs that lower the seizure threshold will be excluded.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Not reported in the source record.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 2 Jul 2017.
- Background: PubMed 9256377Ashbridge E, Walsh V, Cowey A. Temporal aspects of visual search studied by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Neuropsychologia. 1997 Aug;35(8):1121-31. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(97)00003-1.
- Background: PubMed 9736464Amassian VE, Cracco RQ, Maccabee PJ, Cracco JB, Rudell AP, Eberle L. Transcranial magnetic stimulation in study of the visual pathway. J Clin Neurophysiol. 1998 Jul;15(4):288-304. doi: 10.1097/00004691-199807000-00002.
- Background: PubMed 9448642Chen R, Gerloff C, Classen J, Wassermann EM, Hallett M, Cohen LG. Safety of different inter-train intervals for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and recommendations for safe ranges of stimulation parameters. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1997 Dec;105(6):415-21. doi: 10.1016/s0924-980x(97)00036-2.
Related trials for Healthy
Recruiting
THE EFFECTS OF GAME-BASED EXERCISE PROGRAMS
Physical Activity, Body Image
Not yet recruitingPhase 1
A Phase I Study of GLR2053 Tablets in Chinese Healthy Adult Participants
Atopic Dermatitis
Recruiting
Colon-delivered Riboflavin and Gut Microbiota Composition
Microbiome Dysbiosis, Gut Health
Not yet recruiting
Neuroergonomic Analysis of a Brain-Computer Interface Device (BCI)
Healthy Volunteers - Male and Female
RecruitingPhase 1
First-in-Human Trial to Assess REGN20423 in Healthy Adult Participants and Adult Participants With Atopic Dermatitis
Healthy Volunteer, Atopic Dermatitis
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Healthy, run by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 8 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Jul 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00006285, which also lists 3 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Jul 2017.