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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><h2>Research Participation Request: Variability of Brain Reorganization in Blindness<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%'>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.</span><o:p></o:p></p><h2>Research Title: Variability of Brain Reorganization in Blindness<span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%'><o:p></o:p></span></h2><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:106%'>Being conducted by: Georgetown University and NIH<o:p></o:p></span></p><h2>Purpose of the Study<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></p><h2>Role of the Participants and Anticipated Length of the Study <o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>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.<o:p></o:p></p><h2>Proposed Participant Compensation<o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Yes, Participants will be compensated at a rate of $50 per hour of MRI time and $25 per hour of non-scanner experiments.<o:p></o:p></p><h2>Link or Instructions for Participants to Enter the Study <o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Please feel free to contact <a href="mailto:SAMPLab_recruitment@georgetown.edu">SAMPLab_recruitment@georgetown.edu</a> 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.<o:p></o:p></p><h2>Contact the following individual with any questions <o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal>Ella Striem-Amit<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>202-687-4687<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:SAMPLab_recruitment@georgetown.edu">SAMPLab_recruitment@georgetown.edu</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>