[NFBV-Announce] Research Participation Request: Variability of Brain Reorganization in Blindness

[dandrews920 at comcast.net]

Research Participation Request: Variability of Brain Reorganization in
Blindness


The below research participant solicitation is being provided for
informational purposes only. The National Federation of the Blind has no
involvement in this research, but we believe that it may contribute to our
research mission.


Research Title: Variability of Brain Reorganization in Blindness


Being conducted by: Georgetown University and NIH


Purpose of the Study


We study how reduced vision impacts the brain. Even though blind people
can't see, past studies have shown that the visual part of the brain still
helps out with other things like touch, hearing, and memory. This means
blind people might be really good at those things, but everyone's brain
works differently. Although there are tools and methods to help blind
people, what tools help one person might not help another. We're not exactly
sure why this happens. Our main goal is to investigate how the visual center
in the brain is utilized differently in individuals born blind and how it
influences their habits and techniques. We hope this will help us in the
future to improve rehabilitation for each blind person.


Role of the Participants and Anticipated Length of the Study 


Participants will fill out a questionnaire about their habits and
preferences and complete additional tasks outside of the scanner, such as
assessing their hearing and tactile recognition abilities. Participants will
also undergo multiple non-invasive MRI scanning sessions. During these
scans, they will lie on their backs while the MRI machine takes pictures of
their brain. They will perform various activities such as listening,
reading, or memorizing stimuli inside the scanner. We anticipate that
participants will complete two MRI sessions, each lasting 2-3 hours, and
then spend approximately 3-4 hours on tasks outside of the scanner,
resulting in a total time commitment of 7-9 hours.


Proposed Participant Compensation


Yes, Participants will be compensated at a rate of $50 per hour of MRI time
and $25 per hour of non-scanner experiments.


Link or Instructions for Participants to Enter the Study 


Please feel free to contact SAMPLab_recruitment at georgetown.edu
<mailto:SAMPLab_recruitment at georgetown.edu>  at any time, or call
202-687-8329 during standard business hours (9 AM - 5 PM). We prefer initial
contact via email. Upon hearing from you, we will follow up with a phone
call to initiate the process.


Contact the following individual with any questions 


Ella Striem-Amit

202-687-4687

SAMPLab_recruitment at georgetown.edu
<mailto:SAMPLab_recruitment at georgetown.edu>  

 

 

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