Brain Activity in Visual-Motor Behavior

This study will examine how the brain works when people look at an object, follow a moving object with their eyes, and reach out their hand to an object. Different areas of the brain work together in reaching out a hand to an object. These areas are also important for concentrating on objects or following them with the eyes. This study will use magnetoencephalography (MEG) to observe more precisely how discrete parts of the brain work during these movements. MEG is a new technique for recording magnetic field changes produced by brain activity.

Healthy normal volunteers 20 years of age and older who are right-handed and who have no history of brain or eye disease may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical history and brief physical examination. They will complete questionnaires for MEG screening and for determining handedness.

Participants undergo MEG recording and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For MEG, the subject sits comfortably in front of a computer screen, and a cone containing magnetic field detectors is lowered onto the head. Electrodes are placed on both sides of the outer part of the eyelids and just above and below the left eye to monitor eye movement. During MEG, subjects perform the following tasks:

1. Eye fixation: A small white cross and a white ring appear on the center of the computer screen. Another white ring moves slowly around the screen in random fashion. Subjects keep their eyes fixed on the central cross and concentrate on the ring at the center, ignoring the moving ring.
2. Ocular tracking: The same cross and rings in task 1 appear on the screen, but in this task the subjects follow the moving ring with their eyes and ignore the cross and ring in the center.
3. Peripheral manual tracking task (right hand): In addition to the cross and rings in task 1, a small white disc-shaped cursor appears on the screen. Using their right hand, subjects use a joystick to move the cursor as precisely as possible to follow the moving ring, while keeping their eyes fixed on the central cross.
4. Peripheral manual tracking task (left hand): The same as task 3, except using the left hand.
5. Central manual tracking: The cross, rings, and joystick are the same as in task 3. Subjects move the cursor to follow the moving ring as precisely as possible, while following the moving ring with their eyes and ignoring the cross and ring in the center of the screen.

Subjects practice each task before MEG recording starts. Then they perform each task twice in random order, with a 1- or 2-minute break between tasks.

Subjects who do not have previous MRI images filed in NINDS's database undergo MRI scanning. MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. The scanner is a metal cylinder surrounded by a strong magnetic field. Subjects lie still on a table that can slide in an out of the cylinder. They can communicate with the MRI staff at all times during the procedure.