Physiology of Volition Studied With Nerve Block

NCT01143506 | Withdrawn

• 2 other identifiers: 10013110-N-0131
• Study Type: observational
• Target: N/A
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background: \- The experience of volition that accompanies voluntary movement can be divided into the sense of will, or deciding to move, and the sense of agency, or feeling that the movement just made was self-generated. Very little is known regarding the neurological origin of this sense of volition. Previous research has shown that a particular part of the brain, the parietal lobe, is involved in our inner sense that we control the movements we make. Researchers are interested in determining if this sense relies on sensory information from moving fingers reaching the parietal lobe. Objectives: \- To determine the brain regions responsible for the sense of volition and the associated sense of agency. Eligibility: \- Healthy right-handed individuals between 18 and 55 years of age. Design:

• The study will involve a screening visit and two testing visits. The screening visit will last 30 minutes to 1 hour, and the testing visits will each last 3 to 4 hours.
• Participants will be screened with a physical examination and medical history.
• At each testing visit, participants will have a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, electroencephalography (EEG), and electromyography (EMG). The MRI scan and EEG will be done during a movement task that involves the thumb, second finger, and fifth finger of one hand. EMG will be used to monitor movements and muscle activity.
• During the second testing visit, participants will receive a nerve block using anesthetic, followed by the MRI, EEG, EMG and movement task. The nerve block will temporarily numb and prevent the movement of parts of the hand and fingers.
• After the MRI scan and EEG recording, participants will be asked to rate how much control they felt they had over choosing whether to move, and how much control they felt they had in actually making the movements.

Conditions

Healthy Volunteers

Keywords

Sense of Agency; Ulnar Nerve Block; Healthy Volunteer; fMRI; EEG

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 55 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Healthy right-handed subjects ranging from 18 to 55 will be included. All subjects should have a valid Clinical Center Medical Record Number.

You may not qualify if:

• Healthy subjects younger than 18 years and older than 55 will be excluded.
• Subjects with MRI findings consistent with organic brain lesions such as brain tumors, stroke, trauma or AVMs will be excluded.
• Subjects with active significant medical or neurological disorders, or active Axis I psychiatric disorders, or requiring continuous treatment with drugs that affect the central nervous system will be excluded.
• We will not include pregnant women because safety of high magnetic field to fetus is not established.
• Subjects allergic to local anesthetics such as bupivacaine will be excluded.
• Subjects unable to have an MRI due to claustrophobia or contraindications to MR scanning will be excluded.
• Subjects who are left-handed will be excluded.
• Subjects will be excluded who are taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications such as warfarin, heparin, clopidogrel, ticlopidine, or fondiparinux, or vitamin E in amounts greater than 1600 IU per day.
• If subjects are taking daily aspirin therapy, this must be held for 7 days prior to the nerve block. If subjects are taking daily NSAIDs, these must be held for 12 hours prior to the nerve block. If these medications cannot be held for these periods, the subject will be excluded.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): lead

Study Sites (1)

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike

Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, United States

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Blakemore SJ, Oakley DA, Frith CD. Delusions of alien control in the normal brain. Neuropsychologia. 2003;41(8):1058-67. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00313-5.

  PMID: 12667541 BACKGROUND

• Libet B, Gleason CA, Wright EW, Pearl DK. Time of conscious intention to act in relation to onset of cerebral activity (readiness-potential). The unconscious initiation of a freely voluntary act. Brain. 1983 Sep;106 (Pt 3):623-42. doi: 10.1093/brain/106.3.623.

  PMID: 6640273 BACKGROUND

• Deecke L, Kornhuber HH. An electrical sign of participation of the mesial 'supplementary' motor cortex in human voluntary finger movement. Brain Res. 1978 Dec 29;159(2):473-6. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(78)90561-9. No abstract available.

  PMID: 728816 BACKGROUND

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: NIH

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 11, 2010
• First Posted: June 14, 2010
• Study Start: June 1, 2010
• Study Completion: January 4, 2012
• Last Updated: July 2, 2017

Record last verified: 2012-01-04

Locations

US (1)