In the present study we propose two TMS experiments, in which we want to examine the brain areas crucially involved in the processing of emotional prosody in healthy right handed subjects.
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Other condition
- Cognitive and attention disorders and disturbances
Synonym
Health condition
bij gezonde mensen
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
reaction times and accuracy percentages will be analyzed and compared between
the different TMS conditions.
Secondary outcome
niet van toepassing
Background summary
One of the fundamental principles in neuroscience is the dominant role of the
left hemisphere in most language functions. In processing information of spoken
language, the left hemisphere is responsible for the analysis of the meaning of
a sentence. The right hemisphere is however, responsible for the analysis of
paralinguistic features of a sentense. like intonation, loudness and accents in
speech, which are crucial for the understanding of the emotional state of the
speeker. The term emotional prosody has been introduced to describe these
non-linguistic aspects of spoken language.
Study objective
In the present study we propose two TMS experiments, in which we want to
examine the brain areas crucially involved in the processing of emotional
prosody in healthy right handed subjects.
Study design
Repetitive TMS will be used with a coil centered over the right frontoparietal
operculum, which has been shown to be involved in affective prosody in lesion
studies and in a previous pilot study conducted in Utrecht (van Rijn et al.,
2005) to which our study is a sequel and an extension. In the present study, we
will also stimulate the same area in the left hemisphere, to allow for
conclusions regarding lateralization of language functions. Studying these
homotopic areas will also give us the possibility to study the relation of
these two areas that have both been associated with emotion in language. The
superior parietal lobule is included as an active control condition (i.e. real
TMS will be performed to this area but we don*t expect effects on the task,
because this area is not related to emotion in language). In experiment 1 the
online-TMS approach will be applied; tasks will be completed during
stimulation. Subjects are asked to perform an emotional language task, in which
they are required to focus on either emotional semantics or emotional prosody
and decide which emotion is expressed. In experiment 2 the offline approach
will be applied, with the same tasks and the same areas of stimulation.
Study burden and risks
The effects of TMS are subtle and temporary. the TMS pulse feels like a little
tickle on your skull, the results of muscle contraction in the skin. The
sensation is like a tickle with your finger of the skull. Some people
experience this as a little uncomfortable. Except for this tickle, subjects
will experience no disadvantages from the experiment.
MRI scans are proven to be safe.
Antonius Deusinglaan 2
postbus 196 groningen
Nederland
Antonius Deusinglaan 2
postbus 196 groningen
Nederland
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
right handed, physically healthy, aged between 18-45
Exclusion criteria
left-handedness or ambidexterity, drug or alcohol abuse, (history of) significant medical, psychiatric or neurological conditions, history of head injury with loss of consciousness, metal in cranium, epilepsy or family history of epilepsy, cardiac pacemaker, infarcations, implanted medication pump, intracardiac lines, history of psychiatric illness (Axis 1, DSM -IV),
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL15917.042.06 |