Studies currently recruiting participants

Some of our experiments involve non-invasive brain stimulation: transcranial direct current stimulation (TMS) or transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), while others involve behavioral tasks only. Unless otherwise noted, testing will take place in the Kinesiology Department at Indiana University Bloomington (PH room 079). There is no direct benefit to you for participating in any of these studies. If you take part, you may help others in the future.

Eligibility. We can only test participants over 18 who:
  • Have no serious medical or neurological conditions.
  • Have no recent (1 year) history of musculoskeletal conditions affecting the head or upper limbs (concussion, breaks, sprains, etc).
  • For the brain stimulation experiments, we can't test people taking certain medications that affect brain physiology (antidepressants, anti-seizure, or anti-psychotic drugs).
  • Some experiments have additional restrictions, listed below.

​Payment. All studies offer payment to compensate you for your time. This is in the form of gift cards, which may be for Kroger, Walmart, or Target, depending on the study. Amount varies by study.
​A.  Reciprocal effects of adaptation in the brain’s motor and sensory systems 
  • Time commitment: One to two sessions of 2-2.5 hours each. 
  • Additional eligibility restrictions: Participants must be between 18—45 years of age and right-handed.
  • Payment: You will receive a gift card valued at $25 per session after completing the final session.
  • There are several different experiments in this study. You may be eligible to complete more than one, if you are interested.
Sensory information is necessary in order to generate appropriate movements of the body.  Modulation of sensory information can serve to enhance or disrupt normal movement. In this study we will investigate the effect of different kinds of sensory information on motor regions of the brain. Before and after a reaching task, we will use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to measure the state of your motor cortex. TMS is a non-invasive brain stimulation that has been in use for decades and is considered very safe. Most people do not find it uncomfortable. For the reaching task, you will be seated at a 2D virtual reality apparatus. You will be asked to point to a series of targets you see in a mirror.
B.  A tool for accurate measurement of proprioception in the clinical setting 
  • Time commitment: One session of about 40 minutes.
  • Additional eligibility restrictions: None.
  • Payment: You will receive a gift card valued at $5 after completing the session.
Even when you have your eyes closed, your brain knows where your hands are. This position sense is called proprioception, and arises from sensors in your joints and muscles. Proprioception is very important for controlling movement, and impairments in this sense can have a major impact on daily function. We will measure position sense of your right and left index finger using two different methods. Both involve making judgments about where your finger is when you can’t see it. In addition, we will measure the dexterity of each hand by asking you to place small pegs into a pegboard.
C. Measuring and modeling the effect of learning on sensorimotor learning
  • Time commitment: One session of about 1 hour.
  • Additional eligibility restrictions: Participants must be 18-45 years of age and right handed.
  • Payment: You will receive a gift card valued at $10 after completing the session.
The ability to adapt movements to changes in the environment is an important feature of the human brain.  While motor areas of the brain are critical for such learning, recent evidence suggests that sensory areas are also affected.  This study investigates the influence of learning on adapting to a new environment. You will be seated in front of a robotic arm with a handle that you grasp in your hand. You will look into a mirror where you will see reaching targets and error feedback. Holding the handle, you will move to a series of targets you see in the mirror. Sometimes the handle will offer resistance and other times it won’t.
D.  Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on manual dexterity in people with autism spectrum disorders
  • Time commitment: 3-4 sessions of 90 minutes each for the brain stimulation version, or 1 session of 45 minutes for the behavioral version
  • Additional eligibility restrictions: Participants must be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and between 18-40 years of age.
  • Payment: You will receive a $30 gift card after completing the final session of the brain stimulation version, or a $5 gift card after completing the behavioral version.
  • This experiment can be done in our lab at IU OR at your place of residence, according to your convenience. 
Manipulating the excitability of the motor cortex may help to improve one’s control of movements of the body. In this study we will investigate the effect of noninvasive brain stimulation on a manual dexterity task. First, your proprioception will be assessed to see how you perceive where you index finger is placed in relation to a line on a computer. Second, you will be timed to see how quickly you can place twenty small pegs into a pegboard. You will perform eight trials with one minute of rest between each trial. We will place two wet sponge electrodes on your head. Then, the tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) will be turned on. This consists of a weak electric current that is delivered through the sponge electrodes. The tDCS will be turned off and removed once a second block of eight pegboard trials has been completed. Initially, tDCS often causes a slight itching or tingling sensation under the sponges. However, this sensation subsides after a few minutes and most people do not find it uncomfortable. tDCS has been used safely in humans for decades, with no known long-term side effects.  
* In the behavioral version of the experiment, you would do only the proprioception and pegboard tasks.

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