EPIC has 5 main parts:
1. Screening. Complete an eligibility survey and a virtual session on zoom.
2. Questionnaires. Complete questionnaires at home.
3. Lab Session. Complete short questionnaires and three tasks.
4. Experience Sampling. Wear a smartwatch and respond to prompts on your phone for seven days.
5. Brain Scan. Complete tasks in an MRI scanner while we collect images of your brain.
Read more about each part below:
1. Screening.
We screen our participants to ensure their safety and to improve the interpretability of our data. To participate in this study, you must first complete an online pre-screening survey and then a 1-hour (paid) virtual session. During the virtual session, we will ask you to complete some short cognitive tasks and surveys.
2. QUESTIONNAIRES.
If you're eligible, you will be asked to complete a 45-minute to 1-hour survey at home about things such as your mood, daily habits, health, and history of stressful or traumatic life experiences. You will be paid $10 for completing this survey.
3. Lab session.
This session will last up to 3-hours and will take place on UNC’s campus. You will be asked to do five things: (1) a facial recognition task, (2) a heart-beat detection task, (3) an inter-personal trust task, (4) an economic game, and (5) provide an optional blood sample via finger prick.
4. Experience sampling.
You will be asked to complete up to 6 short surveys (called “sampling instances”) and one longer end-of-day survey each day for seven days. At every sampling instance, you will be asked to briefly describe what’s going on and how you are feeling. In the end-of-day survey, you will be asked to describe each sampling instance in more detail. Throughout your seven days of experience sampling and end of day surveys, you will be asked to wear a smartwatch called a Fitbit Charge 4. This watch will collect information about your sleep, movement, physical activity, and heart rate.
5. Brain scan.
This session will last up to 3 hours and will take place on UNC’s campus. Before entering the scanning room, a researcher will place up to twelve sensors on your neck, chest, abdomen, and hand. These sensors are MRI-safe and will allow us to record activity from your heart, lungs, and skin during your scan. The actual brain scan will last about 1.5 hours. During the scan we will collect many images of your brain while you complete two different picture viewing tasks. Some of the pictures used in this task are aversive.