Participate in Studies
The Brandeis Aging Brain Study
Study Overview
We are looking for volunteers to participate in a study that investigates how the brain and thinking abilities change over time. As this is a longitudinal study, we would like to invite some participants to come into the lab multiple times if they are interested. Some of these sessions may involve brain scans.
Eligibility
We are seeking healthy adults 18 and older. If you are currently not in good health, have a history of neurological or psychiatric problems, or cannot speak and write English proficiently, please do not volunteer for this study.
Screening Process
If you are interested in volunteering for our study, you may fill out our online eligibility questionnaire or call our lab to complete the questions verbally with a research assistant. Upon review, we will call you to confirm your responses and notify you of your eligibility status. If you are chosen to participate, you will be given a consent form, a Subject's Bill of Rights and a verbal explanation of the testing procedure.
Requirements
Participants will be asked to come to the Brandeis campus for a brief medical interview. You will then take a series of tests designed to assess your thinking abilities. These tests may be taken with paper and pencil or on a computer and will involve tasks such as solving puzzles and remembering lists of words. The study will take approximately three to four hours to complete.
Compensation
You will be paid $60 for participation in this study. This study is not expected to benefit you directly.
Aging, Norepinephrine, and Tau
Study Overview
We are looking for volunteers to participate in a study that investigates the factors that protect some individuals from developing brain pathology found in Alzheimer’s disease. This study involves brain imaging (MRI, PET) and blood sampling, as well as completion of a memory task.
Eligibility
We are seeking healthy older adults aged 60-85 years old. If you are currently not in good health, are currently taking medication to treat anxiety or depression, or cannot speak and write English proficiently, please do not volunteer for this study.
Screening Process
If you are interested in volunteering for our study, you may fill out our online eligibility questionnaire or call our lab to complete the questions verbally with a research assistant. Upon review, we will call you to confirm your responses and notify you of your eligibility status. If you are chosen to participate, you will be given a consent form, a Subject's Bill of Rights and a verbal explanation of the testing procedure.
Requirements
Participants will be asked to come to the Mass General Hospital Martinos Center in Charlestown, MA. We will complete one 60-minute magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and one 30-minute positron emission tomography (PET) scan. We will also take one blood sample. In addition, participants will complete a short memory task in our office at the Brandeis campus on a separate date. The study will take approximately five to six hours to complete. We will then call you three years later to complete this same study schedule again.
There is a very exciting additional piece of our study that we are not yet scheduling for this project but will be scheduling in the next 6-12 months. For all participants who complete the first visit day of the MRI, PET, blood draw and memory task, we will then call you within 6-12 months to ask if you are willing to participate in this additional visit. This additional visit involves a single PET scan at the Massachusetts General Hospital Martinos Center with compensation. We are awaiting final confirmation of details for this study and will provide those details (including visit and compensation information) at a future date. This additional scan is crucial to the study, and we hope to gain new insights into the brain’s structure as a result. It is optional for participants to complete this additional scan as part of the study, and we will be able to book this additional scan when convenient for you.
Compensation
You will be paid $900 for participation in this study. This will be paid in two portions: $450 upon completion of visit 1, and $450 upon completion of visit 2, three years later. This study is not expected to benefit you directly.
Aging, Memory, and Emotional Salience
This study is available for participants who first complete our longitudinal neuropsychology study in our office in Waltham.
Study Overview
This study aims to investigate individual and age-related differences in visual salience memory across the adult lifespan.
Eligibility
We are looking for English-speaking younger adults ages 18-35 or older adults over the age of 65 years. Participants should not have a neurological (e.g., stroke, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease) or psychiatric disorders (depression, bipolar or schizophrenia). Older adult participants should not be experiencing elevated levels of depression and anxiety symptoms.
Requirements
This study requires one telephone call or online questionnaire where you will complete a survey for eligibility criteria and one in-person computer session, which will take approximately 1.5 hours. The telephone/online survey will ask for your health information, medical history, anxiety and depression symptomology, and current medication information to determine your eligibility for the in-person computer session. During the in-person computer session, you will be asked to complete neuropsychological tests and an emotional memory salience task. Some of these emotional images can be very disturbing and unpleasant. These could include gory or gruesome images like you might see in a horror movie, or disturbing images like you might see in uncensored news reports of war or natural disasters.