OCEAN ADHD/ADD questionnaire
The OCEAN Study
NeuroKnowHow are happy to help in enabling people to understand their strengths and weaknesses. If you feel that you may have symptoms of ADHD or have a diagnosis of ADHD then you may be eligible to take part in a new study at King’s College London. Please read the project information below and if you are interested, fill out the questionnaire and a researcher will be in touch.
The study, Oils and Cognitive Effects in Adult ADHD Neurodevelopment (OCEAN) is one of the first to investigate the effects of omega-3 dietary supplementation on cognition in adults with ADHD. It is funded by Vifor Pharmaceuticals and is taking place in London, Germany and Switzerland.
What does the OCEAN study involve?
OCEAN is looking to recruit adults with a current diagnosis of ADHD. The study will take place over 6-months and there will be three stages of assessment:
Assessment 1:
You will be asked to visit the SGDP Centre for a testing session that will take around 5-6 hours. During this session we will ask you some questions about your mental health, and carry out some cognitive tasks assessing your learning and thinking, and others which will look at your attention, planning and reaction abilities. These are simple computer tasks that evaluate your attention span and speed of responding to stimuli that appear on a computer screen. For some of these tasks we will be measuring electrophysiology, galvanic skin response and physiological response (heart rate, breathing rate, skin temperature, posture and degree of movement), we will also be recording your responses on video.
Electrophysiology allows precise recording of the brain’s activity so that we can identify the processes which may underlie some of the difficulties experienced by people with ADHD. It involves wearing a cap of electrodes on your head. To measure galvanic skin response we will ask you to wear a clip on your index finger, which will allow us to pick up subtle physiological responses to our cognitive tasks. Physiological responses will be measured by asking you to wear a ‘belt’ around your chest during electrophysiology testing. This ‘belt’ is called a bioharness and contains a tiny device which will collect all necessary responses. None of these measures are invasive or painful.
You will also be asked provide a small blood sample, of around ½ a teaspoon. This will enable us to evaluate the serum levels of fatty acids that can be used to match against any changes in brain function.
At the end of this session you will be given some capsules to take every day for 3 months. Some of these capsules contain essential fatty acids whereas others do not. It will be unknown to you and the researcher whether you will be given a placebo containing no active essential fatty acids, or supplements containing essential fatty acids. Siblings of those with ADHD will take part in only this assessment and will not be given any capsules.
Assessment 2:
After 3 months we will send and ask you to complete some questionnaires on your levels of attention, impulse control and emotional responses. We will then ask you to return to the centre to provide another blood sample.
Assessment 3:
After 6 months, you will be asked to come back again and repeat the same cognitive, electrophysiological and galvanic skin response measures, and the interviews used in your first appointment. We will ask you for a final blood sample. This is the last bit of the project.
Compensation
You will receive £40 in total to compensate you for your time and commitment with our study. You will receive £20 once you have attended and completed your first research session and £20 once you have completed your last research session. You will also be reimbursed for your travel expenses related to the project.
If you are interested in being a participant, please click on the link at the bottom of this page to complete the the ADHD/ADD symptom questionnaire
For further information contact:
Ruth Cooper, email: ruth.cooper@kcl.ac.uk,
tel: 0207 848 5401 or 07891173986
or by post:
OCEAN Study,
SGDP Building,
P080,
Institute of Psychiatry,
De Crespigny Park,
London SE5 8AF
