Brain Use of Sensory Information to Generate Movement

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Forty normal volunteers will be included. Normal volunteers would be recruited from people who are registered as HMCS Normal Volunteers. All subjects participating in this study should have a valid Clinical Center Medical Record Number. Procedures for the experiment will follow the Standard Operating Procedures of HMCS TMS group.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Contraindications for TMS;

Magnetic stimulation will not be performed in people who have pacemakers, implanted pumps or stimulators, or have metal objects inside the eye or skull. If the participants find the procedures too uncomfortable, they may discontinue the study at any time. Brain functions at a development stage are out of scope of this particular experiment. In this study, subjects 18 years or older will be included.

Contraindications for MRI;

Pacemakers, brain stimulators, dental implants or metallic braces, aneurysm clips (metal clips on the wall of a large artery), metallic prostheses (including metal pins and rods, heart valves, and cochlear implants), permanent eyeliner, insulin pump, or shrapnel fragments. Welders and metal workers are also at risk for injury because of possible small metal fragments in the eye which they may be unaware. Subjects will be screened for these contraindications prior to the study.

Subjects with previous or current neuropsychiatric disorders will be excluded. Patients with MRI findings consistent with organic brain lesions such as brain tumors, stroke, or trauma will be excluded. Subjects not capable of giving informed consent will be excluded.

We will not scan pregnant women with MRI because safety of high magnetic field to fetus is not established. Therefore, we will administer a urine pregnancy test for any female subject of childbearing potential prior to MRI scan. Brain functions at a developmental stage are out of scope of this particular experiment. In this study, subjects aged 18 years or older will be included.