Brain Activity During Strategic Planning

Study Summary

This study will locate areas in the brain that help people devise action plans to carry out complex tasks requiring use of strategy. The ability to plan strategically is impaired in patients who have had a stroke affecting the front parts of the brain. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the activity of different areas of the brain during the formulation and execution of plans. Right-handed healthy volunteers between 18 and 60 years of age may be eligible for this study. Participants come to the NIH Clinical Center four to five times to complete the following procedures: Visit 1 - Screening * Medical history * Physical and neurological examinations Visit 2 - MRI brain scan (if one has not been done within the past year) MRI - This test uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of the brain. The scanner is a metal cylinder surrounded by a magnetic field. The subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the scanner, wearing earplugs to muffle loud noises that occur during the scanning. Visits 3 to 5 - Task training sessions and two fMRI scans Functional MRI involves taking MRI scans while the subject performs a task in order to learn about changes in brain regions that are involved in the performance of the task. Subjects are trained in two tasks (see below) and then perform the tasks while in the MRI scanner. * Task 1: The subject presses computer keys in response to the direction of arrows shown on the computer screen. The keys are pressed according to a given set of rules the subject is taught. * Task 2: This task is similar to task 1, but the subject is also asked to remember certain previous actions and responses.