Volunteers

We are looking for paid volunteers to participate in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI research).

A Varian MRI scanner

These experiments are conducted on a clinical (hospital) MRI scanner. MRI is very safe, as it does not use ionizing radiation (like x-rays) and is completely non-invasive. Instead, MRI works by using a strong magnetic field and low-power radio-waves. The total amount of energy to which a subject is exposed during an MRI scan is much less than that of a typical x-ray.

Functional MRI is a particular type of MRI scan that allows researchers to obtain pictures of brain activity over time. While these images are being taken, subjects are asked to perform different cognitive "tasks" designed to evoke different kinds of mental activity. Typical tasks might include remembering lists of words, looking at pictures or listening to sentences. This information can be used to study how the brain is organized for the production of mental operations, like learning, memory and perception.

	Side view of brain

We frequently conduct fMRI experiments at the University of California, Berkeley, and need subjects who are willing to participate. Subjects are given pictures of their brains (similar to that shown to the right) and may be paid, depending upon the particular experiment. If you are interested in participating in an fMRI experiment, please look over the subject criteria listed below. We are very sorry, but we cannot perform experiments upon subjects who do not meet every one of these criteria.

Exclusion criteria

The first set of criteria is medical. Please check that none of the items on the list below apply to you. The list is designed to check every possible way in which you might have metal implanted in your body, in addition to some other conditions which would prevent a safe MRI scan:

Pacemaker Cerebral aneurysm clips Neurostimulator Metallic heart valves IUD Joint replacement Metal plates Bone or joint pins Vena cava filters Embolization coils Cochlear implants Greenfieid filer Seizures Claustrophobia

Bullet/gunshot Prosthesis (non-removeable) Artificial limbs (non-removeable) Surgical slips Metal screws or pins> Shrapnel/metallic fragments Harrington rod Insulin pump Ever had metal removed from in or around the eye Ever been metal worker (i.e., welder, machinist) Non-removeable hearing aids Birdnest or Gianturco filter Pregnant

There are additional exclusion criteria that vary from study to study.

There is one final, very important point to be made regarding participation in these MRI experiments. The scans that are conducted as part of these experiments are not the same as those obtained for a diagnostic, clinical study. These images are not read by a radiologist and cannot be considered diagnostic studies. If you have reason to think that you require an MRI scan for health reasons, please contact a physician.

If you are interested in being contacted regarding future fMRI studies, please send e-mail (including your name, e-mail address and age) to Josh Hoffman