Would you like to help in a study?

Not a clinical study for drugs, but something that will help determine if people with narcolepsy plan and majke decisons differently to the rest of us. Sophie is a student at Cambridge who is looking for help with her MSc project. She decided on narcolepsy due to personal experience of how debilitating the condition can be. The following explains what she is looking for; we will be happy to pass on to her any comments.

I am currently conducting an MSc project at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. The study will look into how decision making and planning may be different in individuals with narcolepsy when compared to individuals without narcolepsy.
I intend to use a series of three psychological tests which are targeted to look at both decision making and planning abilities. I hope to be able to theoretically isolate areas of the frontal lobes which may undergo deterioration or change with narcolepsy. In addition to this battery of psychological tests I also intend to issue a questionnaire regarding day-time sleepiness. The total amount of time taken to conduct the tests will be around an hour and a half. I intend to recruit fifty participants, twenty-five with narcolepsy and twenty-five without narcolepsy.

I believe the findings of the study will be of use both to me and those with narcolepsy. I am very aware that extensive research is needed to investigate the possible differences in processing of those with narcolepsy. I hope that the research I am conducting into differences in decision making and planning behaviour goes in some way to highlight possible differences between those with narcolepsy and those without. Findings generated from the research may also highlight possible structural differences in the frontal lobes of the brain involved in decision making and planning.

I am aware of how limiting narcolepsy can be on how a person is able to conduct their life and have experience of living with someone with narcolepsy. Through this personal experience I believe the investigation of decision making and planning is highly relevant to everyday life, and therefore findings would be highly useful to individuals with narcolepsy.

I am happy to travel within Cambridgeshire, the London area, Edinburgh and Glasgow. I am unable to pay you for your time but firmly believe if you decide to take part, you will make a valid contribution to the study and hopefully be involved in influencing future research. If you decide to take part in the study your data will remain confidential and will only be seen by myself. I will also provide a participant information sheet, detailing the study and an informed consent sheet. As a participant you are able to leave the study at any time.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to Sophie via John Cherry’s email  (john.cherry@narcolepsy.org.uk).