Pre-fMRI Scanning Protocol

This page is incomplete and more or less formatting practice!

The Pre-fMRI Scanning Protocol checklist can be downloaded here.

Below is additional information pertaining to pre-screening potential participants.

Scheduling

_____ Email participant and make sure they are eligible to participate in the study

Dear (participant’s name),
    Before we schedule a time to begin the experiment, I need you to answer a few questions……  (Handedness, native English speaker,  precluding brain injuries, metal implants/ pacemakers). 
Thank you,
(Insert Name)

_____ Schedule a time to meet with the participant in the lab

_____ Send a reminder email the day before informing the participant when and where to meet you

Dear (participant’s name),
    Here is a friendly reminder that you are scheduled to meet with me in Park 341 at (insert time). 
See you tomorrow,
(Insert Name)

Set up

_____ Have a copy of the informed consent ready to go over with the participant

_____ Have the SITE ready for the participant to create an account on the computer in room ##

_____ Have the SITE ready to assign the participants tasks after they have created an account

_____ If timeslots are available for the scanner have these prepared to schedule with the participant.

Gaining consent and individual differences

_____ Gain verbal consent from participant and give them the form to take home with them

_____ Usher participant to the computer in room ## to create an account on SITE

_____ Instruct participant to find their username and password in their email

_____ Assign participant appropriate tasks

_____ Update Info

_____ Handedness

_____ Language Experience

_____ Lexical Decision

_____ Have the participant complete the tasks

_____ Examine scores to assess eligibility for scanning

_____ Eligible or _____ Not Eligible

Scheduling time at the scanner

_____ Schedule MRI sessions

• A strategy should be used to impress upon the participant that the MRI scanner is both difficult to schedule and expensive to run
• We want to avoid participants flaking out

_____ Send the participant a reminder email a day before there timeslot for each session with directions to the scanner.

• The full list of parking options is likely not in the email yet, but a good reference website for parking is at http://www.bnmc.org/parking-bnmc/
• The participant should be instructed to arrive at least 15 (but ideally 30) minutes before the scheduled start of scanning. This will allow time for consenting, MRI safety checklist, pocket emptying, using the rest room, etc. We will likely have the scanner booked in a time window that doesn't run adjacent to another scan session, so if the participant is ready to go into the scanner early, then the entire session will simply end earlier. Thus, there's no downside for the participant to arrive early.

Thank the participant for their time.