Help us research the power of healthy habits.
We seek healthy adults to participate in research looking at how to help people age well and productively. Our researchers are investigating how people form, then change, a new habit and which brain regions are involved, to support healthy ageing.
Healthy ageing is an important part of improving quality of life in later years. Numerous strategies promoting healthy lifestyle behaviours and improve ageing focus on how to learn to do everyday activities habitually. This research will provide an understanding of how the brain is involved in performing habits and identify any age-related differences to help guide support for healthy brain ageing.
What's involved
The purpose of this research project is to investigate the brain regions involved in goal-directed and habitual behaviour.
Individuals who participate in this study will be contributing to the field of neuroscience. This study may inform behavioural change interventions to support healthy ageing.
Participation involves the following:
You will complete an online eligibility screen which will collect personal information including contact details and medical history. This information is used to determine whether you are eligible to participate in our research.
Approximately 20 minutes.
A researcher will contact you via phone to discuss responses to your eligibility screen and confirm that you are eligible to participate.
Approximately 20 minutes.
You will complete pre-assessment questionnaires regarding mood, memory, and visual imagery. You will complete these questionnaires online via an emailed link prior to your in-person session. Example questions that will be asked include “how often you couldn’t seem to experience any positive feeling at all” and “how frequently do you fail to recognise places that you are told you have been to before”.
Aproximately 25 minutes.
This will involve undertaking some thinking and memory tasks. This includes both computerised and pencil-and-paper style tasks and there will be a researcher present to guide and assist you.
Approximately 1.5 hours.
This is a non-invasive way to take detailed images of the brain. It requires you to lie still in the MRI scanner for approximately 1 hour whilst completing a computerised task. The task involves learning associations between shapes and food items. A researcher will be guide you through the task and be present throughout the scan. The MRI will be completed by trained radiographers at the Thompson Institute. People who are claustrophobic or have any metal fragments in their body (e.g., pacemaker or aneurysm clip) will not be able to take part in this component. MRI contraindications are captured during initial screen procedures and will result in preclusion from this study. This scan is different to standard ‘clinical’ MRI and is therefore not appropriate for diagnostic purposes. However, if any abnormalities are detected, we will contact and inform you so you can seek independent medical advice (such as from your GP).
Approximately 1 hour.
Who can take part
You could be eligible to participate if you:
- Are aged between 18-30 or 60-85 years
- Are English speaking
- Have no neurological or active psychiatric illnesses
- Are right-handed
- Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision
- Are willing to complete paper and pencil and computerised tasks
- Are willing and eligible to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to take detailed images of your brain
- Are able to attend the Thompson Institute in Birtinya (Sunshine Coast)
Contact us
To learn more contact PhD student, Chelsea Hennessy
Email: chennessy@usc.edu.au
Phone: +61 7 5456 5351