Generalization and Specificity of Visual Learning During Sleep

NCT07015840 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 12030005775P30GM149405-02
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 10
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

A growing body of evidence suggests that sleep facilitates and is beneficial to perceptual learning. However, the underlying mechanism of this facilitatory action is largely unknown. One must know what type of processing occurs during sleep to clarify the mechanism of sleep facilitating perceptual learning. For this purpose, investigators will obtain highly localized spatio-temporal information about brain activation during sleep using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and polysomnography (PSG) measurement.

Conditions

Visual Learning; Healthy Volunteers

Keywords

Sleep; Behavioral

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Performance change

  Visual sensitivity changes will be assessed behaviorally using a psychophysical orientation detection task. Participants will be asked to detect the orientation of a Gabor patch embedded in visual noise. The outcome measure will be the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold at which participants can reliably detect the target orientation (typically defined as 75% correct performance). Lower SNR thresholds indicate greater visual sensitivity.

  5 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Decoding accuracy

  5 weeks

Interventions

Visual perceptual learning BEHAVIORAL

Evaluation of the effect of visual training on cortical activity during sleep

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• years old
• Normal or corrected to normal visual acuity

You may not qualify if:

• Self-report of visual and eye disorders (cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma)
• Drug use (psychoactive drugs, neuroleptic medications, prescription medications that might affect cognitive and motor performance)
• History of sleep disorders (sleep apnea, insomnia)
• Failure to meet the criteria on the visual acuity test
• Magnetically or mechanically activated implants (such as cardiac pacemakers)
• Clips on blood vessels in the brain
• Use of any type of intrauterine devices
• Use of dentures
• Pregnancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brown University: lead
• National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Spatial Learning; Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Spatial Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Professor, PHD

CONTACT

401-863-5379; yuka_sasaki@brown.edu

Research Assistant

CONTACT

401-863-5186; akiko_norton@brown.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 29, 2025
• First Posted: June 11, 2025
• Study Start: February 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Last Updated: May 6, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: ANALYTIC CODE

Locations

US (1)