Visual Stimuli and Brain Imaging for Memory Behavior

Overseen By Brice A Kuhl, Ph.D.

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of Oregon

Must not be taking: Psychoactive drugs

Disqualifiers: Mental health disorders, sleep deficits, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

737 Participants Needed

Trial Summary

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial does not specify if you need to stop taking your current medications, but it does exclude people using psychoactive drugs. If you are taking any psychoactive medications, you may not be eligible to participate.

What data supports the effectiveness of the treatment involving eye tracking, fMRI, MRI, and visual stimulus similarity for memory behavior?

Research shows that functional MRI (fMRI) can identify specific brain areas involved in memory and attention, suggesting that these imaging techniques can help understand how visual stimuli affect memory. This implies that using fMRI and similar methods could be effective in studying and potentially improving memory behavior. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Is it safe to use fMRI and eye-tracking for studying visual stimuli and brain activity?

Functional MRI (fMRI) and eye-tracking systems have been used safely in studies to observe brain activity and eye movements. These methods are generally considered safe for humans, with no significant safety concerns reported in the research provided. ^{1 6 7 8 9}

How does this treatment differ from other memory treatments?

This treatment is unique because it uses visual stimuli combined with brain imaging techniques like functional MRI (fMRI) to study and potentially enhance memory behavior, focusing on specific brain areas involved in memory tasks. Unlike traditional treatments that might rely on medication or cognitive exercises alone, this approach directly observes and targets brain activity related to memory. ^{1 4 10 11 12}

What is the purpose of this trial?

Healthy individuals from the University of Oregon and surrounding community will be recruited for participation in behavioral, fMRI and eye tracking experiments that investigate human memory. Recruitment will involve emails, flyers, and local advertisements. Individuals between the ages of 18-80 (or 18-35 for some studies) will be eligible. The broad objective of the research is to understand how humans form distinct memories for similar experiences. Experimental sessions will involve studying and trying to remember various images (e.g., images of natural scenes). The intervention will involve manipulating the similarity and/or learning protocol for the studied images. Outcome measures will include (a) behavioral measures of memory, and/or (b) fMRI measures of hemodynamic activity, and/or (c) eye tracking measures of gaze direction. Experimental sessions will last approximately 1-3 hours.

Research Team

Brice A Kuhl, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

University of Oregon

Eligibility Criteria

This trial is for healthy, right-handed native English speakers from the University of Oregon area. For behavioral studies, participants must be aged 18-35. For fMRI studies, they can be between 18-80 years old. People with mental health disorders, drug use or sleep deficits are excluded.

Exclusion Criteria

I am under 35, don't use psychoactive drugs, have no mental health disorders, and sleep well.

I don't use psychoactive drugs, have mental health disorders, or suffer from chronic sleep deficits.

Timeline

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Experimental Sessions

Participants engage in behavioral, fMRI, and eye tracking experiments to study memory formation and interference

1-3 hours per session

Multiple sessions over the study period

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for data analysis and outcome measures after experimental sessions

6 months

Treatment Details

Interventions

• Eye tracking
• fMRI
• Visual stimulus similarity

Trial Overview The study investigates memory formation by having participants remember images while their brain activity and eye movements are tracked using fMRI and eye tracking technology. The similarity of images and learning methods will vary to see how it affects memory.

Participant Groups

Group I: fMRI pattern similarity Experimental Treatment 2 Interventions

This arm will use fMRI and behavioral methods to test memory for different visual stimulus conditions.

Group II: eye tracking Experimental Treatment 2 Interventions

This arm will use eye tracking and behavioral methods to test memory for different visual stimulus conditions.

Group III: Behavioral Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

This arm will use behavioral procedures to test memory for different visual stimulus conditions.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of Oregon

Lead Sponsor

Trials

91

Recruited

46,700+

References

1. France pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Exploration of visual memory by functional MRI]. [2019]

2. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Imaging studies of memory and attention. [2007]

3. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Memory lateralization with 2 functional MR imaging tasks in patients with lesions in the temporal lobe. [2021]

4. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Functional neuroimaging studies of encoding, priming, and explicit memory retrieval. [2019]

5. Germany pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Challenging the anterior attentional system with a continuous performance task: a functional magnetic resonance imaging approach. [2019]

6. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Cortical localization of human sustained attention: detection with functional MR using a visual vigilance paradigm. [2019]

7. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Detection of eye movements from fMRI data. [2015]

8. Japan pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Reproducibility of visual activation in functional magnetic resonance imaging at very high field strength (4 Tesla). [2019]

9. Netherlands pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

A novel functional magnetic resonance imaging compatible search-coil eye-tracking system. [2007]

10. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Activation of the prefrontal cortex in a nonspatial working memory task with functional MRI. [2022]

11. United States pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of human visual cortex during face matching: a comparison with positron emission tomography. [2006]

12. England pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Studying mind and brain with fMRI. [2018]