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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT04643340

Imaging During Subliminal Perception

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.

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy

Age range

18 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University of Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland

About this study

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

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

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

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)

Treatment and study plan

Real-Time fMRI

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).

Primary outcomes

  1. fMRI during supra-threshold and subliminal perception

    Time frame: 2020 - 2022

  2. rt-fMRI activity

    Time frame: 2020 - 2022

    rt-fMRI activity: fMRI signal changes during repetitive real time fMRI based training

Secondary outcomes

  1. Functional connectivity

    Time frame: 2020 - 2022

    Examination of fMRI signal dependencies (coherence) between brain regions.

  2. EEG activity

    Time frame: 2020 - 2022

    EEG activity: Event related potentials and spectral band power for different trial types

  3. fMRI task performance

    Time frame: 2020 - 2022

    Reaction time and accuracy

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Zurich

Other

Collaborators

  • Swiss National Science Foundation

Registry information

Official study title

Functional Imaging During Subliminal Perception

Important dates

Study start
2020
Primary completion
2021
Study completion
2022
First posted
Nov 25, 2020
Registry last updated
Jun 13, 2023

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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