Participate in brain research - University of Birmingham

We can't carry out groundbreaking brain research without you.

We are always looking for volunteers to participate in the research projects taking place in the Centre. These can range from short, one-off computer-based behavioural tasks, to longer-term studies using our larger imaging equipment, such as our MRI scanner.

Studies sometimes offer incentives for participation, such as payment, vouchers, freebies, etc.

Volunteer eligibility criteria differs for each study (e.g. age, sex, language proficiency etc), and will be outlined by researchers upon recruiting.

Our Centre is used for research and educational purposes only, and as such, we, and our researchers, do not provide medical advice, diagnoses or treatment.

Once you have filled in the above form, you will subsequently receive an email confirming that you have been added to our mailing list (chbh-studies@lists.bham.ac.uk). You are under no obligation to read or respond to the emails sent to you via the mailing list, and you are free to unsubscribe from the mailing list at any time. To unsubscribe, please send an email anytime to chbh@contacts.bham.ac.uk expressing your intention to be removed from the list.

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Please note that by signing-up to our mailing list above, you agree to your data being processed in accordance with the University of Birmingham's privacy policy.

Request MRI data

If you participated in a CHBH MRI study in the past and wish to send a request to retrieve your data, please fill in the MRI Data Request form.
If you are a CHBH researcher and you need to retrieve permissions/consent on participant data for the purpose of MRI T1 scans, please fill in the Dicom T1 Request form.

How well do we function without sleep?

Participants experiencing sleep deprivation in a CHBH study articulate their emotions both prior to and following sleep deprivation

How well do we function without sleep?

Participants experiencing sleep deprivation in a CHBH study articulate their emotions both prior to and following sleep deprivation

Transcript

Jess (before study): Hi, my name's Jess. I'm about to start the sleep deprivation study. I expect it's going to be a little bit difficult. I usually get like eight, or I need eight hours of sleep a night, but I'm going to be having zero, so I expect it'll be a bit rubbish. What else? I expect I'll be feeling, really, I expect I'll want to swear a lot after the study. I expect I'll be really irritable and probably quite rude, which I hope isn't the case, but we'll see. So yeah.
Jess (after study): Hello. The study has now finished. Before the study started, I think I said I'd feel rubbish, and I do, but more in the sense of I can't stay awake or keep my eyes open for very long at periods of a time without falling asleep. What surprised me most about the study? The ups and the downs. I thought it would just be [makes downward falling noise], but it's not. It's up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down. What will I be doing right now? I will be going home, I will be letting my eyes stay shut and waking up in a few hours, and then going to bed at a normal time. Goodbye!

Amber (before study): Hello, I'm Amber.

Natalia (before study): And I'm Natalia.

Amber (before study): And we're about to do a sleep deprivation study.

Natalia (before study): We're about to start the night, and, at the moment, I'm feeling excited about it, but I think towards the end of the night I'm going to be really exhausted and just not very happy.

Amber (before study): Yeah, I feel like I'm going to get to a point [where I'm] a bit stressed because I don't know what time it is, how much longer I have to go. But yeah, we're going to push through and see how it goes.

Amber (after study): It actually was more fun than I was expecting.

Natalia (after study): Yeah.

Amber (after study): And I had more energy than I was expecting. But towards the end, the morning tests [were] quite intense. Ready to go home and sleep.

Natalia (after study): Yeah, exactly the same thing. I didn't expect to actually enjoy the night so much, but the morning was definitely intense and very hard and, yeah, I was really tired. So we're ready to go.

Reece (before study): Hi, I'm Reece. I'm about to start the sleep deprivation study. Right now, I'm feeling pretty good. I expect to get quite hyper, get very sleepy, and end up in a chill, drowsy state. We'll see.

Reece (after study): I was hyper for some parts of it. I was lethargic for other parts. I was surprised by how hard it is to keep my eyes open just because of how painful my eyes are right now. So I'm ready to go home and sleep.

Ryan (before study): I'm Ryan. I'm about to do a sleep deprivation study. Right now, I'm feeling pretty chill. I expect to be still pretty chill but more tired.

Ryan (after study): It went pretty much how I was expecting. Felt a lot more tired towards the end during the testing; I was falling asleep. Now I feel pretty normal. Got to go home and get ready for work.

I found the study extremely interesting. The tests on the state of the art equipment were all fascinating. The staff involved in the study were informative, motivating, and enthusiastic.
Anonymous CHBH participant