Studies of Blood Flow to the Brain During Thought

The purpose of this study is to use brain imaging technology to measure changes in blood flow to areas in the brain as individuals perform intellectual tasks. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine blood flow to areas of the brain as participants engage in tasks associated with visual perception, visual recognition, and memory.... Objective: Our goal is to study the functional organization of the intact human brain by combining cognitive tasks and neuroimaging. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) will be used to measure brain activity in healthy human subjects engaged in performing cognitive tasks. These tasks will address specific questions concerning the neural systems that mediate perception, attention, memory, decision-making, emotion, plasticity and social interactions. fMRI and MEG, respectively, will be employed to investigate the spatial and temporal aspects of these neural systems. Study Population: Normal volunteer participants aged 18-65, who are in good general health will be recruited from the local community and studied under this minimal risk protocol. Design: Subjects will perform cognitive tasks in behavioral and/or neuroimaging sessions (fMRI or MEG). Outcome Measures: Behavior as performance on cognitive tasks, and brain activity (fMRI and MEG) will be combined to yield information about the neural correlates and processes underlying different aspects of human cognition including visual perception, memory, learning, emotion, social cognition, decision-making and attention.