Brain Imaging for Visual Attention

Age: 18 - 65

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of California, Santa Barbara

Disqualifiers: Neurological disease, Implanted devices, Pregnancy, others

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

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 3

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial aims to understand how the brain focuses on details, such as finding Waldo in a picture. Researchers seek to observe how certain brain areas respond to visual features like color and motion, and how these areas aid in memory retention. Participants will undergo fMRI scans while viewing and remembering colorful moving dots. The study seeks individuals with normal vision who have no neurological issues or metal in their bodies. As an unphased study, this trial offers a unique opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking research on brain function and visual memory.

Do I need to stop my current medications for this trial?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications. It's best to discuss this with the trial coordinators or your doctor.

What prior data suggests that this brain imaging technique is safe?

Research shows that tasks involving visual working memory, which this study examines, are generally safe. Studies have found that participants face minimal risks when engaging in activities related to visual memory and attention. This study uses fMRI, a brain imaging technique, to observe how colors and movements are remembered. This method is non-invasive, meaning it doesn't physically affect the body.

In similar studies, no major negative effects have been reported. Participants typically find these tasks safe, with the main discomfort being the need to remain still in an MRI machine for a while. Overall, existing evidence well supports the safety of this method. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about this trial because it explores how our brains process and remember visual information, particularly focusing on visual working memory. Unlike current methods, which mainly observe brain activity without actively manipulating it, this trial uses a unique approach by changing visual stimuli and observing how these changes affect memory and attention. This could lead to a deeper understanding of visual cognition and potentially pave the way for new interventions to enhance memory and attention in various conditions.

What evidence suggests that this trial's methods could be effective for understanding visual attention?

This trial will explore how specific brain regions handle tasks related to visual working memory and attention. Studies have shown that visual working memory and attention collaborate in the brain. When individuals remember visual details, such as color or motion, their brains use these memories to guide actions. Research indicates that both memory and visual processing share some brain resources. This suggests that remembering a visual detail can enhance focus on similar details in the future. Participants in this trial will engage in tasks involving manipulations of visual working memory to investigate these processes. ^{4 6 7 8 9}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Tommy C Sprague

Principal Investigator

University of California, Santa Barbara

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This study is for healthy individuals interested in how the brain processes visual information. Participants will undergo fMRI scans while performing memory tasks involving colors and motion. The goal is to understand how certain brain regions contribute to attention and memory of visual features.

Inclusion Criteria

My vision is normal or corrected to normal.

Exclusion Criteria

Non-removable metallic piercings

I have reported having a neurological condition.

History of hearing loss/damage

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Experimental Task

Participants engage in visual working memory tasks while undergoing fMRI scanning. They remember and report features of visual stimuli, such as color or motion.

4 weeks

2 experimental fMRI sessions, each 1.5-2 hours

Anatomical & Retinotopic Mapping

Participants undergo anatomical and retinotopic mapping to identify brain regions for further analysis.

2 hours

1 session

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for safety and effectiveness after the experimental tasks.

2 weeks

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Probing the Role of Feature Dimension Maps in Visual Cognition: Impact of Working Memory Maintenance (Expt 2.3)

Trial Overview The trial tests the theory that specific brain areas create 'feature maps' for different aspects of visuals, like color or motion. It uses advanced analysis techniques on fMRI data as participants recall various features of stimuli they've seen, to see how these maps work during memory tasks.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Manipulations of Visual Working Memory (Expt 2.3) Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Participants will be shown a colorful moving dot stimulus at a random location in the periphery while maintaining fixation. After a 12 sec delay period where nothing is presented on the screen, they will be shown a new dot array at the dot array location and they will have to adjust either the color/motion of the array to match what was shown at the beginning of the trial (or do nothing if it is the remember nothing condition).

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of California, Santa Barbara

Lead Sponsor

Trials

33

Recruited

3,100+

National Eye Institute (NEI)

Collaborator

Trials

572

Recruited

1,320,000+

Citations

1. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7655037/

Visual working memory and action: Functional links and bi ... By holding onto detailed visual memory representations together with their associated prospective actions, the brain ensures that upcoming memory-guided actions ...

2. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945220302859

Attention for action in visual working memory We argue that rather than serving sensory storage, attention emerges from coupling relevant sensory and action representations within working memory.

3. frontiersin.org frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1259002/full

Editorial: Cognitive mechanisms of visual attention ... This article is part of the Research Topic Cognitive mechanisms of visual attention, working memory, emotion, and their interactions

4. onlinelibrary.wiley.com onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ejn.15264

Shared resources between visual attention and ... Our results suggest that internally driven VWM and externally driven visual processing rely at least in part on shared attentional resources.

5. researchgate.net researchgate.net/publication/5864297_Interactions_between_visual_working_memory_and_visual_attention

(PDF) Interactions between visual working memory and ... The present paper reviews the behavioral evidence for and against the hypothesis that visual working memory and attention are best regarded as ...

6. nature.com nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56700-5

Comprehensive exploration of visual working memory ... The model provides an integrative framework for understanding human visual working memory, incorporating a dozen mechanisms—some directly ...

7. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105381192500223X?dgcid=rss_sd_all

Study on individual differences in visual working memory ... This study investigates individual differences in VWM performance across four types of visual stimuli (Body, Face, Place, Tool) under 0-back and 2-back ...

8. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9832369/

Opening Questions in Visual Working Memory - PMC The primary mechanism proposed for maintaining contents in visual working memory is persistent “delay” activity in neuronal populations signaling attributes of ...

9. imrpress.com imrpress.com/journal/FBL/13/3/10.2741/2754/pdf

Interactions between visual working memory and ... The present paper reviews the behavioral evidence for and against the hypothesis that visual working memory and attention are best regarded as one and the same ...