Here at Neuroskeptic there's a lot of talk about brain scanning, most commonly functional MRI. I've blogged about all kinds of studies, methods, criticisms and advances in fMRI technology. But what about the people on the receiving end - the volunteers? What follows is meant to be half useful advice for participants, and half insight into the difficulties in running an fMRI study.
The 10 Commandments for fMRI Volunteers
1. Thou Shalt Turn Up...: Please. If you don't, we'll waste a lot of money (ballpark figure: $1000 an MRI scanning slot).
2. ...On Time: If you're late, the whole scanner schedule gets messed up. All the scans later in the day will be delayed, so our friends will think we're jerks. Turning up really late could even alter the results of some experiments, because brain activity changes over the course of the day
. 3. Thou Shalt Be Patient: Because ...
