You will complete an online eligibility screen which will collect personal information including contact details and medical history. This information is used to determine whether you are eligible to participate in our research.

Approximately 20 minutes.

A researcher will contact you via phone to discuss responses to your eligibility screen and confirm that you are eligible to participate.

Approximately 20 minutes.

You will complete pre-assessment questionnaires regarding mood, memory, and visual imagery. You will complete these questionnaires online via an emailed link prior to your in-person session. Example questions that will be asked include “how often you couldn’t seem to experience any positive feeling at all” and “how frequently do you fail to recognise places that you are told you have been to before”.

Aproximately 25 minutes.

This will involve undertaking some thinking and memory tasks. This includes both computerised and pencil-and-paper style tasks and there will be a researcher present to guide and assist you.

Approximately 1 hour.

This is a non-invasive way to take detailed images of the brain. It requires you to lie still in the MRI scanner for approximately 1 hour whilst completing a computerised task. The task involves learning associations between shapes and food items. A researcher will be guide you through the task and be present throughout the scan. The MRI will be completed by trained radiographers at the Thompson Institute. People who are claustrophobic or have any metal fragments in their body (e.g., pacemaker or aneurysm clip) will not be able to take part in this component. MRI contraindications are captured during initial screen procedures and will result in preclusion from this study. This scan is different to standard ‘clinical’ MRI and is therefore not appropriate for diagnostic purposes. However, if any abnormalities are detected, we will contact and inform you so you can seek independent medical advice (such as from your GP).

Approximately 1 hour.