The researcher for this study is looking for more participants if you are in the Toronto area. There is no compensation other than travelling costs. If you are interested please send me a PM with your name, email and phone number and I will provide that to the research team. The lead Neurologist is Dr. Chen at the Toronto Western Hospital. Below are the details for the study
To collect the study’s data, we will use a brain stimulation technique called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (referred to as TMS).•
TMS is carried out by resting a wire coil device on the scalp to deliver magnetic stimuli to the hand motor brain area located beneath the skull.• This causes brief twitching of the hand muscles that are controlled by the stimulated area, and these twitches are recorded by sticker electrodes.•
Participants will also experience brief twitching of the scalp, forehead, and face muscles that are close to the TMS coil.•
During TMS, the magnetic stimuli are delivered once every few seconds.We are also using a technique called Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (referred to as LIFUS).•
For LIFUS, a small transducer is placed on the scalp to deliver ultrasonic stimuli to the hand motor area of the brain located beneath the skull.•
The effects of the ultrasound are not perceived at the moment of the stimulation.• Participants will wear headphones that play a background sound during the LIFUS and may feel a mild warm sensation under the transducer.•
Sometimes, the LIFUS will be delivered at the same time as TMS and, at other times, on its own.The risk associated with TMS and LIFUS is minimal.•
Before the current TMS safety guidelines were published, the scientific literature reported a few rare cases of the induction of a single seizure in a healthy volunteer using TMS at fast rates.•
We are not performing this type of TMS and strictly adhere to the currently published TMS and LIFUS safety guidelines.•
As an extra precaution, if a person has ever had a seizure in the past, they do not qualify for our research.
The study involves coming to the lab at the Toronto Western Hospital for 2 study visits that are about 2.5 hours long each. One of the visits is with, and the other visit is 12 hours without medication.
