Subcortical Arousal in Perceptual Awareness

Summary

The study consists of prospective enrollment of healthy participants and patients with epilepsy, as well as analysis of an existing data set. Healthy participants will be studied with fMRI, eye metrics and behavioral testing at Yale. Patients will be studied with thalamic recording and stimulation, eye metrics and behavioral testing.

Conditions

• Epilepsy

Interventions

DEVICE

EEG

Participants will have scalp EEG recorded with the international 10-20 system sampled at 256Hz using EEG amplifiers for purposes of surface event related potential analysis

DEVICE

Eye Tracking

An eye-tracking device may be used during the perceptual awareness task. Pupillary and gaze location measurements are recorded using either a ViewPoint\~VoltagePro.EyeLink 1000 Plus system, or Argus Science ETVision system. If using the ViewPoint\~VoltagePro system or the Argus Science ETVision system, participants will be asked to wear an eye tracker during the perceptual awareness task (similar to wearing sunglasses). If using the EyeLink 1000 Plus system, participants may be asked to place their head inside of a padded head-chin rest to stabilize head position

DEVICE

Behavioral task

For the visual perceptual awareness task, the participant will be presented with barely perceptible visual stimuli. After a variable delay, the participant will be asked to report perception of each stimulus and identify its location.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

fMRI

Visual, auditory or tactile behavioral task will be performed during fMRI at the Yale MR Center. The subject will be asked to lie still in a 3T magnet scanner for up to 15-minute blocks. Each subject will have a sagittal T1-weighted localizer scan (3 minutes) and axial-oblique T1-weighted images (3 min). Multiple 5-15-minute imaging runs will be repeated up to 10 times. The subjects' responses will be recorded by a computer that is linked to the button box. The stimuli will be presented in blocks of 5 to 15 minutes throughout the MR imaging sequences.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

  collaborator NIH

• Yale University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Hal Blumenfeld, MD, Phd · Yale University

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-10-13

Primary Completion

2030-12-31

Completion

2030-12-31

FDA Device

Yes

Countries

• United States

Study Locations