The Back of the Brain Project (BoB)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Back of the Brain project (BoB): A new approach to cerebral localisation of perceptual functions.
IRAS ID
209574
Contact name
Alex Leff
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Can learning affect the brain to the degree that specialized brain areas are created? Seemingly selective deficits in reading (pure alexia) following brain injury suggest that this is the case. In traditional studies, patients are selected based on their symptoms (alexia), which are then related to their brain lesions.
Here, we instead propose selecting a large group of patients based on the localization of their brain lesion. We then investigate their perceptual and reading performance using a comprehensive experimental test-battery in a cross-sectional study. By characterising the profiles of these patients, and relating these to the underlying lesion (as identified using MRI brain scanning), the project will provide new knowledge about how reading performance may affect the organisation of other visual perceptual functions (e.g.: face and object perception). The same functions will also be investigated in a large sample of normal subjects, to test the hypothesis that learning to read systematically affects other perceptual skills.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EM/0348
Date of REC Opinion
15 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion