STUDY INFORMATION SHEET (fMRI)
Project title: Localisation of the visual mismatch response investigated using EEG and fMRI
Study details
Please first see CRICBristol’s native fMRI information sheet for an in-depth understanding of fMRI prior to reading the rest of this document.
This fMRI element of the study will take place at CRIC centre,60 St Michael´s Hill,Bristol,BS2 8DX. You will need to be accompanied by a member of our research team in order to enter, so we will meet you at 12a Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TU prior to your planned scan time and walk there with you.
You will perform a visual target detection task, in which you will be required to give a manual button-press response to a centrally presented target occurring in a rapidly presented sequence of non-target stimuli. We will take a purely structural scan and will also record the changes that occur in your brain in response to changes in stimuli on the screen. We are interested in understanding the areas of the brain involved in the cognitive processing of visual target stimuli, which have previously been examined primarily in the auditory domain.
The visual stimuli are simple boxes that will change in format, and you will be asked to respond as quickly and as accurately as possible to those changes.You will see a short demonstration at the start of the four blocks that will explain the study process and stimuli changes.
The scanning session overall will last for approximately 1 hour with fifteen minutes set aside to discuss the study, the scan and to answer any questions you might have. The session will comprise a structural scan lasting under ten minutes to align our measure of your brain, and then four blocks of the task lasting roughly 7-8 minutes each; you will have opportunity to rest between each block.You will be able to say that you wish to stop the testing and leave at any time, without giving a reason. This would not affect your relationship with the staff or University in any way.
Once the experiment has ended and you have exited the MRI machine you will be fully debriefed on the study and will have an opportunity to ask any questions.
Data collection and protection
Once you have completed the study all data will be transferred to a University file server. Alldata will be anonymised and used for statistical analysis; after this point no individual will be identifiable within the data. Although this data will be made available in the public domain (typically via publication) the data will be completely anonymous with no identifiable individuals. The data will be controlled during testing and during statistical analysis by researchers at the University of Bristol and CRIC.
Please note that the preceding details, and allstandard MRI operating safety procedures, have been approved by the Clinical Research and Imaging Centre Bristol (CRIC), the Research and Enterprise Development (RED) team regarding the University of Bristol, and the University of Bristol Faculty of Sciences Ethics Committee. If you require any more information please don’t hesitate to contact myself in the first instance (), while any concerns related to the study can be directed to the Faculty of Science Human Research Ethics Committee, via Alison Prescott (, 0117 928 8540).
Researchers: Craig Hedge, George Stothart, Kris Magee, Priscilla Rojas Frias, and Jenna Todd Jones