Imaging During Subliminal Perception

NCT ID: NCT04643340

Last Updated: 2023-06-13

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 70 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-03-15
• Study Completion Date: 2022-12-01

Brief Summary

Subliminal perception of visual stimuli can be studied with functional brain imaging, e.g. with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, it is unclear how subliminal perception affects connectivity in the brain.

Further, it is not known if real-time (rt) fMRI neurofeedback of brain areas involved in subliminal perception can lead to supra-threshold perception.

For attention tasks, the investigators hypothesize that functional connectivity strength is mediated by the insular cortex during both supra-threshold and subliminal perception.

Additionally, the investigators hypothesize that rt-fMRI neurofeedback training should alter neuronal and behavioral responses.

Detailed Description

In this project, using healthy adults, the investigators have 2 aims:

1. Apply electroencephalography (EEG) and fMRI before and after rt-fMRI neurofeedback during attention tasks to identify brain regions involved in subliminal and supraliminal perception.

2. Apply functional connectivity analyses during these tasks.

Conditions

Healthy

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

active group 1

This group will train the insular cortex by real-time fMRI

real-time fMRI

Intervention Type: OTHER

Brain regions can be trained, i.e. fMRI activity can be actively modulated online by humans, using rt-fMRI (Bruhl, Scherpiet et al. 2014, Bruhl 2015, Emmert, Kopel et al. 2016).

active group 2

This group will train the visual cortex by real-time fMRI

real-time fMRI

Intervention Type: OTHER

Brain regions can be trained, i.e. fMRI activity can be actively modulated online by humans, using rt-fMRI (Bruhl, Scherpiet et al. 2014, Bruhl 2015, Emmert, Kopel et al. 2016).

sham

This group will only train the insula by a particular strategy

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

real-time fMRI

Brain regions can be trained, i.e. fMRI activity can be actively modulated online by humans, using rt-fMRI (Bruhl, Scherpiet et al. 2014, Bruhl 2015, Emmert, Kopel et al. 2016).

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Healthy adults (> 18 < 80 years), which can read and sign the informed consent form
• Male and female
• Right-handed

Exclusion Criteria

• metallic items in the body (i.e. eye splinter, MR incompatible implants)
• pacemaker
• claustrophobia
• pregnant participants
• participants suffering from a degenerative disorder of the Central Nervous System, such as Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease and Huntington's Disease and with major psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, or anxiety disorder
• Drug intake (psychopharmaca)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 80 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Swiss National Science Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Zurich

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Lars Michels, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Hospital, Zürich

Locations

University of Zurich

Zurich, , Switzerland

Countries

Switzerland

Related Links

http://p3.snf.ch/project-182803

SNF database

Other Identifiers

2017-00483

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id