What was involved?

MEMO involved performing a number of memory and other cognitive tasks which we hope everyone enjoyed doing! Volunteers were also asked to fill out some questionnaires and have several different kinds of MRI brain scans.

In order to collect this level of in-depth information about everyone's memory and their brain, data collection was split over 4 visits. Each visit lasted approximately 3-4 hours - of course this included breaks! There was also a further hour at home filling in some questionnaires online at leisure. Each visit to our Centre was arranged to suit the volunteer, and slots were available during weekends and evenings as well as during weekday office hours.

During two of the sessions, volunteers were asked to undergo some MRI scans, and these sessions took about 1.5 hours each time. MRI is a painless and safe experience that uses a large magnet to take detailed pictures of the brain. Undergoing MRI scanning simply requires lying down in a machine that looks like a long tube. We cannot conduct MRI on individuals with internal metallic clips/pins, pacemakers, hearing aids, cochlear implants, or other metal plates (because it's a big magnet!). We also can't scan volunteers if they are pregnant, or believe that they could be. Because the MRI tube is relatively small, individuals with claustrophobia are advised not to take part in MRI studies.