Actively Recruiting
Brain Stimulation and Vision Testing
Led by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) · Updated on 2026-05-01
665
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
N/A
Total Duration
On this page
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
Background: -The brain has two systems for recognizing objects. One system recognizes what an object is, and the other system recognizes where the object is located. However, there is much about how the brain handles and interprets the information from these two systems that is still unclear. Researchers want to study the parts of the brain that are involved in how vision is processed. They will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) on the brain. MRI measures what parts of the brain become more active when tasks are performed. TMS uses magnetic pulses to temporarily change the activity in parts of the brain. tES uses electrical current to temporarily change brain function. Objectives: -To better understand how people visually recognize different types of objects. Eligibility: -Healthy volunteers between 18 and 50 years of age, who only speak English. Design: * This study includes many different experiments on vision. Each experiment may combine visual tasks, MRI scans, and TMS or tES. Participants may be asked to have several different tests. Each test will require a separate visit to the National Institutes of Health. * Participants will be screened with a physical exam and medical history. They will have a baseline brain scan at the first visit. * Participants may do visual tasks alone, with MRI only, with TMS or tES only, or with MRI and TMS or tES combined. For the visual tasks, they will look at pictures of objects on a computer screen. Sometimes the images will appear very briefly (less than one-tenth of a second). Sometimes they will appear for up to 5 seconds. These images will be of things like faces, bodies, tools, and scenes. Participants will be asked to respond in different ways to the pictures. They may respond by typing on a computer keyboard or by pressing a button. Participants will have time to practice the tasks before the experiment. * Participants will remain on the study for up to 3 years.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Brain Stimulation and Vision Testing
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Healthy individuals
- Ages 18 to 50 years (inclusive)
- Able to read and write in English to understand all study instructions
You will not qualify if you...
- Presence of ferromagnetic metal in the cranial cavity or eye (e.g., aneurysm clip, implanted neural stimulator, cochlear implant, ocular foreign body)
- Abnormality found on structural MRI
- Implanted cardiac pacemaker or auto-defibrillator
- Insulin pump usage
- Irremovable body piercing
- Pregnancy
- Visual impairment preventing task performance
- Lack of consent capacity
- Inability to understand study instructions
- History of neurological problems including family history of epilepsy, seizures, or recurrent migraines
- Use of medications that lower seizure threshold (e.g., imipramine, amitriptyline, doxepine, nortriptyline, maprotiline, chlorpromazine, clozapine, foscarnet, ganciclovir, ritonavir, amphetamines)
- Significant psychiatric illness or history of psychiatric illness
- National Institute of Mental Health staff, employees, or family members
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
Complete this quick 3-step screening to check your eligibility
Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
N
NIMH LBC Volunteer
CONTACT
C
Christopher I Baker, Ph.D.
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Masking
N/A
Allocation
N/A
Model
N/A
Primary Purpose
N/A
Number of Arms
1
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