Neuroimaging Neuroeconomic Game Play v2
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Neuroimaging Neuroeconomic Game Play
IRAS ID
210348
Contact name
Kristin Nicodemus
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Mental ill health, including major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), affects over 15% of the population. People with these disorders see the world differently, often allowing them to contribute a lot to society. But they also face many challenges and often need society’s support. In particular, these disorders affect how people make decisions, and may lead to difficulties interacting with others and keeping up social relationships. In turn, these difficulties can lead to isolation and make life harder to deal with.
This study will investigate and compare how people with and without mental illness make decisions. We’ll look at how people make decisions using a game where you can win money in a social setting. We’ll ask participants to play these games while we record images of their brain using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). This will let us see differences in behaviour and brain activity between people diagnosed with MDD or BD and people with no history of mental illness. We’ll also ask participants to complete a set of questionnaires about their mood and personality. We’ll invite each participant for two visits, one in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and one in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, lasting about one and a half hours each.
We’ll recruit participants from a group of people who took part in the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS). We’ll be able to link our data to information collected by GS:SFHS, such as information about participants’ personality and cognition (ability to understanding things), as well as data about their genes. This will allow us to get a better understanding of the factors influencing how people think.
The study is funded through a University of Edinburgh-Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund.
REC name
Scotland A: Adults with Incapacity only
REC reference
16/SS/0126
Date of REC Opinion
27 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion