Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
Q:
 Are there any experimental medications in this study?
A:
 No. This is a behavioral study concerned with auditory and visual attention. We will be conducting a series of tests that are non-invasive, totally painless, and involve no medications or drugs.
Q:
 What is the Brain Wave Experiment/ERP?
A:
 An ERP experiment is a painless procedure that collects measurements of the electrical activity emitted by your brain. To do this, you wear a hat covered in tiny “buttons” that rest on your scalp. A gel is put on the buttons to increase conductance. Nothing will pierce your skin. We will then have you relax in a chair and concentrate on a simple experiment played over a computer screen. The whole procedure takes about 2 hours – 45 minutes to apply the cap and another 1 hour 15 minutes to complete the experiment.
Q:
 What is an MRI?
A:
 A Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) scan uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce high quality pictures--in our research, these pictures are of the brain. You will lie still on a table with your head in a doughnut-shaped magnet (the scanner) for approximately 30 minutes while the pictures are collected. Imaging for our studies will be done at the UCSD Center for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging on the UCSD main campus in La Jolla .
Q:
 What are the side effects of the MRI? Is it dangerous?
A:
 A MRI scan is a standard procedure, commonly used in medicine and research. It is painless and non-invasive. The scanner does make a loud “banging” noise, but you will be given ear plugs. Some people experience mild discomfort from lying still in a confined space. A few become anxious or claustrophobic during MRI. If this happens to you, you can stop the procedure at any time. There are no known effects from exposure to MRI.
Q:
 Is MRI safe for everyone?
A:
 Those persons with any free-standing metallic device implanted in their soft tissue are not able to have an MRI scan. These include, but are not limited to, cardiac pacemakers, insulin pumps, shunts, stents, heart valve replacements, intracranial bypasses, aortic clips, aneurysm surgery, prosthetic implants such as ear, eye, or penile, neurostimlulators, permanent eyeliner, or metal mesh or coil implants. In addition, those who have been exposed to shrapnel or have ever worked as a welder or metal worker must consult with the MRI technician. Finally, women pregnant or trying to become pregnant should refrain from an MRI. Those persons with hip replacements, pins in the shoulder, elbow, or ankle, an IUD, or removable hearing aids are clear to have an MRI scan.
Q:
 What will I receive for participation?
A:
 Your participation will assist us in learning about brain changes in normal, healthy aging. In addition, we will pay $15 for each hour of participation. This is our way to Thank You for your time and effort.
Q:
 Will I get any of my test results?
A:

Yes and no. We are bound by both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and UCSD guidelines on what information we can share with our participants. Therefore, we can not provide any personal results to you unless a test shows an abnormality. We will occasionally hold information sessions which provide our group data and results on a large scale, as well as study progress, free of charge to our volunteers.

Q:
 What happens if you do find a problem with my test results?
A:
 If your test results are abnormal for any reason we will immediately contact you. This includes the attention, memory, and MRI testing. Trained experimenters will be analyzing the results. The MRI scans are all read by a clinical neuroradiologist at UCSD Healthcare. If you choose, our materials and results will be made available to your physician and any specialist you may like to see.
Q:
 Are all the test results confidential?
A:
 Yes, we are bound by the NIH and UCSD as well as the State of California HIPA regulations regarding subject confidentiality. All our information is coded and only seen by members of our laboratory, and is never sold or given out.
 
Questions Regarding the Healthy Aging Study
Q:
 Who can participate in this study?
A:
 We are looking for males and females ages 25-90 who are interested in learning more about themselves, their brain, and how they are aging. Participants must be free of health concerns such as heart disease, diabetes, learning disabilities, mental illness, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, history of stroke, epileptic seizures, cardiac pacemaker, any serious head injury resulting in loss of consciousness, or any of the metallic devices listed above should not participate in this experiment. Please contact the study for further clarification of a certain concern.
Q:
 Who sponsors this study?
A:
 Our study on Healthy Aging is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the UCSD Department of Neurosciences. Our laboratory is headed by Jeanne Townsend, PhD.
Q:
 May my spouse and I come in for experiments at the same time?
A:
 Yes, many of our visits can be combined for couples or friends interested in both participating in the study. Other times, we will provide an area for one to wait while the experiment is conducted. Few experiments are more easily performed with one volunteer at a time. We try our best in scheduling to make it easy for our participants to accomplish things together.
Q:
 How long will the study last? How often must I participate? How long are the experiments?
A:
 This is an ongoing study occurring over 3 years. Your participation for us will involve between 6 and 8 visits of one to two hours each. These visits will be scheduled at your convenience and may be conducted as soon or as far apart as you would like. In addition, you may be asked to participate in occasional additional experiments for other pilot studies in our laboratory. These are optional and will be scheduled as needed. In total, we would like to be able to contact you occasionally over the span of one year.

 

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