Inattentive and impulsive brain. Version 1.0

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Understanding the Inattentive and Impulsive brain

• IRAS ID

  124687

• Contact name

  Masud Husain

• Contact email

  masud.husain@ndcn.ox.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Oxford

• Research summary

  The aim of our research is to understand the mechanisms underlying inattention, impulsivity and apathetic behaviour. These behaviours occur across a range of neurological diseases, and it is unlikely that they can be explained simply on the basis of only molecular or genetic changes.

  Our approach is to identify:

  • Cognitive mechanisms underlying these behaviours
  • Map these to brain regions or networks required for these cognitive processes
  • Determine whether similar cognitive deficits and alterations in brain regions / networks underlie these behaviours

  This is a multi-group observational study. Participants will be invited to take part in cognitive tests and brain MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanning.

  Our primary aim is to determine whether common cognitive mechanisms underlie inattention, impulsivity and apathy across a range of disorders: stroke/focal brain lesion, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, memory disorders not fulfilling criteria for Alzheimer’s disease and adults attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Our secondary aim is to establish whether such cognitive mechanisms are associated with alterations in specific brain networks.

  We will use cognitive tests designed to assess attention, short-term memory and decision-making in patients and healthy control participants. Participants view material presented on a computer screen and are asked to remember them (for memory tests) or make decisions based on the information they provide (for tests of impulsive or apathetic decision-making). Responses are measured in terms of manual responses (button press or squeezing response devices) or eye movement responses (measured using video-based eye tracking).

  The brain regions and networks underlying the performance of these tasks will be investigated using structural and functional MRI brain scanning. This will improve our understanding of the neural circuits involved in specific brain functions that are particularly impaired in these patients populations, and together with the cognitive tests help guide development of new treatments or interventions for inattention, impulsivity and apathy across neurological disorders.

• REC name

  South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  14/SC/0044

• Date of REC Opinion

  5 Mar 2014

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion