Frequently Asked Questions

Our goal is to create a registry to engage the public and increase participation in cognitive neuroscience research studies. This registry will help researchers recruit participants for individual studies on cognitive functions like learning, memory, perception, attention and language in children and adults. These studies teach us how the brain works and provide crucial information that may allow researchers to develop novel therapies for brain and mental disorders, as well as more sensitive tests so disorders can be identified and treated sooner. 

BrainsCAN researchers strive to understand the brain – in health and disease – across the lifespan. Individual studies have different inclusion and exclusion criteria, including different age groups and people who may have neurological conditions as well as healthy controls. With your permission, we use the information you provide us when you sign up to match you to a suitable study and you are also welcome to check with individual studies to see if you are eligible.

We will not contact you more often than once every 6 weeks. If you have a specific preference, you can also let us know during sign-up or at a later time. Your preference can also be changed at any time by contacting OurBrainsCAN coordinators.

At different time, you can participate in as many studies as you are interested in. Once enrolled in one study, we will make a note that you are currently participating in a study so you are not contacted during that time. Some studies may have some restrictions about simultaneous participation and that is something you can ask the study personnel. However, there are many studies that do not restrict your participation.

Most studies will occur in London, Ontario although there may be a few online studies that you will be able to participate in remotely. Many studies will take place at the Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB), Western University. Studies involving Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will usually take place at the Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping (CFMM) at Western. Some studies may involve other locations around the city.

There is free parking available at the Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB) to participate in a research study. When you make your appointment, please let the study personnel know that you will need a parking spot so that arrangements can be made. Parking in other locations (e.g. Elborn College) may also be available, please ask the researcher when invited to participate in a specific study.

It is important that these are research studies and not clinical evaluations. Research is usually analyzed and reported in groups, thus individual results may not be available. We will try our best to disseminate information about the findings of studies through OurBrainsCAN. Research summaries describing the findings from these research projects are also posted on BrainsCAN's website.  

Some studies utilize Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or functional MRI (fMRI). MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio-frequency waves to create high-resolution images with exquisite soft tissue contrast in a noninvasive, nondestructive, and three-dimensional (3D) manner. fMRI looks at the activity of blood flow and blood oxygen levels that result from brain activity. This technique is used to observe, in a non-invasive fashion, changes in the brain’s blood flow to various kinds of stimulation (e.g. visual stimulation, auditory stimulation). When a specific part of the brain is engaged by some type of stimulation, it will require increased blood flow, which appears, in our data, as red/yellow ‘blobs’.

Watch this video to learn how children participate in an MRI study: 

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a technique that uses sensors placed on the scalp to measure brain activity and has been used in hospitals for many more years than MRI. The sensors are usually kept together through a special cap that is placed on your head. Some caps require a small amount of a special gel in the sensors, while some others only require water with a little bit of salt and shampoo.

In appreciation for your time, studies usually provide some compensation. Details for each study will be shared when you are invited to participate and the study is explained to you.

To update your contact information or your preferences (e.g. frequency of invitations), you can contact our coordinators by email:

Email: ourbrainscan@uwo.ca

Absolutely! You are free at any time to have your information permanently and securely removed. Please contact one of the coordinators at ourbrainscan@uwo.ca and we will remove you from the OurBrainsCAN directory.