We are looking for volunteers, aged 10-25, who have been identified as being on the autism spectrum to participate in a brain imaging study at Macquarie University, Sydney.
Many people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience unusually strong or atypical reactions to sights and sounds and this can have a major impact on their quality of life. Our research aims to understand how the brains of individuals with autism and typically developing children, adolescents and young adults differ in their response to sounds and images.
Participants will play two interactive tasks involving aliens, astronauts and musical tones. Whilst doing this, we measure the tiny magnetic fields produced by the brain. This technique, known as MEG, is completely safe. The MEG machine is silent and you will not be in any discomfort.
We will also take a picture of participants’ brain using an MRI scanner. This is also non-invasive but is noisy and requires participants to lie still in a confined space for about 10 minutes.
Finally, we will ask participants to complete some simple tests of language and reasoning skills. And we ask parents to fill out a brief questionnaire.
The study takes place in our labs at the Australian Hearing Hub on the Macquarie University campus. Altogether, it takes around 2.5 hours to complete. We pay $50 for each child. Participants also receive a picture of their brain.
Please contact Robert Seymour for more information: firstname.lastname@example.org