External Research Studies seeking volunteer subjects

A number of University departments and institutes need volunteer subjects. If U3A members are interested please contact the research leader or department directly.

Help Research on How the Brain Works
Brain activations
Nerve Study
Listening experiment
Well-being amongst Cambridge residents

Help Research on How the Brain Works

Status: ongoing
The Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit is an internationally renowned centre for research on the workings of the human mind and brain.  Our work is dependent upon members of the public who volunteer to take part in our studies. 
We are looking for a wide range of people, of all ages, to be part of our participation panel, you should be able to read and write well in English and be in good health, with no history of neurological injury, or currently on any psychiatric medication.  For some of our tests you should not have any pieces of metal in your body.
Typically, our experiments involve simple, computer-based tests of vision, hearing, memory or language.  Additionally, there are three main techniques that we use to record brain responses: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and Electroencephalography (EEG).  All techniques are completely safe and non-invasive; they involve no needles, drugs, radiation or x-rays.
We will pay you £6.00 per hour for computer-based tests.  For MRI you will be paid £10 per hour with a minimum payment of £20, plus a photograph of your brain and for MEG / EEG you will receive £10.00 per hour.  You will also be given a contribution of up to £3.00 towards travel expenses. To register your interest in volunteering and to read more about our work please visit our online form at https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/panel/form. Alternatively, you can contact the Panel Manager at: Panel Manager, MRC-CBU, 15 Chaucer Road, FREEPOST, CB1 152, Cambridge. Tel: 01223 505610. Email: panel.manager@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk

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Brain activations

Status: Ongoing
Would you be willing to take part in a research study exploring brain activations? The procedure involves an MRI scan of your brain lasting about 90 minutes. It would take place at Addenbrooke's hospital. The study looks into how stroke patients recover after stroke, BUT we NEED HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (over the ages of 55) for comparison. You will be reimbursed for your time and trouble. If you would like to know more about the study, and think you would be willing to help, please contact Euphrasia Ngum on 01223 217695 Email ekn23@cam.ac.uk, or Emmanuel Carrera on 01223 274430 Email ec417@cam.ac.uk.

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Nerve Study
Status: Ongoing
Healthy volunteers, between the ages of 55 and 75 with no serious medical problems, are needed for a study investigating the presence of a chemical that accumulates in the brain and may be responsible for injuring nerve cells.  The study takes place at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.  Participants will have two scans, an MRI scan and a PET scan and be reimbursed for participation and travel expenses. 
If you would like to know more about the study please contact: Euphrasia Ngum on 01223 217695.  R3 Neurosciences, Box 83, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ. Email: ekn23@cam.ac.uk

Listening experiment
Status: Ongoing
I am looking for older adults interested in participating in a listening experiment. The experiment consists of three parts: a short vocabulary test, a short hearing test and a short listening task. Together, these tasks will not take longer than 30 min to complete. The study is set up in the Linguistics Department of the University of Cambridge. I am particularly looking for native speakers of British English who are 60 years and older and whose hearing is still good enough so that they do not need to wear a hearing aid. I am happy to welcome back anyone who already volunteered for last year’s study on “r” target words. There is a small compensation of £4.50 for your participation. If you are interested, please send an email to ah540@cam.ac.uk or call 760822.

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Well-being amongst Cambridge residents
Lead Investigator: Felicia Huppert
Status: Ongoing, seeking volunteers to distribute questionaires
Felicia Huppert, the Director of Cambridge University's Well-being Institute (www.cambridgewellbeing.org) and her colleagues have developed a questionnaire to assess how well a local community is functioning. Felicia is seeking volunteers from among the membership of U3A Cambridge who would be willing to visit a modest number of houses to deliver the questionnaires which would be returned in a prepaid envelope or completed on line. One village (e.g. Cottenham, Girton, Histon) and one geographical area within the city (e.g. East Chesterton, Newnham, Romsey) would be selected, depending on the proximity of U3A members.

Volunteers will receive additional group information and training before visiting households. Data from this study will inform the creation of a valid, reliable and short questionnaire to be used around the country.

If you would like to help, please contact Felicia by email on fah2@cam.ac.uk or by telephone at Cambridge (01223) 336970. Please also indicate which city area or village you live in, so we can try to choose two convenient locations for the study.

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