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MEG and Aphantasia

ConditionAphantasia
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-60
SponsorHospices Civils de Lyon

About this trial

Covert actions are cognitive processes that involves the motor system. They include motor imagery, movement preparation, action observation or action language. They imply mental simulations, based on activations of neural networks, involved in specific operations such as perceiving or acting. These mental phenomena have intrigued and still intrigue philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists, as they are complex and introspective processes, which play a major role in human cognition.

To decipher similarities and differences between these types of covert actions, the investigators will focus on persons living with aphantasia, which is a neurocognitive specificity present in a small proportion of the population (5 to 8%). Aphantasia is characterized by the alteration or the absence of explicit mental representations.

This population offers an ideal testbed to disentangle the involvement of cognitive and motor processes in different forms of covert actions.

By means of magnetoencephalography, this study aims to identify and compare brain patterns and their temporal dynamics in alpha and beta bands during covert actions in two groups of healthy volunteers: aphantasics and non-aphantasics (i.e., having a non-altered imagery capacity).

If covert actions indeed share brain networks, the investigators expect aphantasics to present reduced neural and behavioral activation during the explicit (i.e., motor imagery) and implicit (movement preparation, action language and action observation) forms of covert actions.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Aged 18 to 60 years

Willing to actively participate in the study

Having signed an informed consent form to participate in the study

VMIQ-2: internal visual imagery score = 55-60

Disqualifiers

Neurological or psychiatric disorders

History of neurological or psychiatric disorders

Sleep disorders that may affect data variability or quality, or participant cooperation and retention, as assessed by the principal investigator or co-investigator during the inclusion interview

Presence of incompatible metal in the body (pacemaker, implanted pump including insulin pump, neurostimulator, cochlear implants or other hearing devices, metallic prosthesis, intracerebral/surgical aneurysm clips, implantable defibrillator, ferromagnetic foreign bodies in the eyes or brain in the upper body, ventriculoperitoneal shunt valves, dental braces or steel posts in root canals, ferromagnetic foreign bodies in the upper body)

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

  • MEG

    Device

    Within a single session, measure of brain oscillations during four types of covert actions (motor imagery, action observation, action language and movement preparation).

  • MRI

    Device

    Anatomical MRI, performed once

  • Vividness of motor imagery questionnaire - second version

    Behavioral

    Before MEG and MRI, measure of vividness for internal visual imagery, external visual imagery and kinesthetic imagery (for 12 actions).

Treatment groups

40 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups
Group A: AphantasicsExperimental treatment 3 interventions
Group B: Non-aphantasicsActive comparator 3 interventions

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Whole-brain power of beta band (Tesla2)

Power of beta band with whole brain analysis during each of the four covert actions (motor imagery, action observation, movement preparation and action language).

Time frame
During MEG recording

Secondary outcomes

1

Whole-brain power of alpha band (Tesla2)

Power of alpha band with whole brain analysis during each of the four covert actions (motor imagery, action observation, movement preparation and action language).

Time frame
During MEG recording
2

Power of beta band (Tesla2) in the primary motor cortex

Power of beta band in M1 during each of the four covert actions (motor imagery, action observation, movement preparation and action language).

Time frame
During MEG recording
3

Power of alpha band (Tesla2) in the primary motor cortex

Power of alpha band in M1 during each of the four covert actions (motor imagery, action observation, movement preparation and action language).

Time frame
During MEG recording

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.

Hospices Civils de Lyon

Lead sponsor

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options: