Protocol of the Healthy Brain Study: An accessible resource for understanding the human brain and how it dynamically and individually operates in its bio-social context

PLoS One. 2021 Dec 29;16(12):e0260952. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260952. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The endeavor to understand the human brain has seen more progress in the last few decades than in the previous two millennia. Still, our understanding of how the human brain relates to behavior in the real world and how this link is modulated by biological, social, and environmental factors is limited. To address this, we designed the Healthy Brain Study (HBS), an interdisciplinary, longitudinal, cohort study based on multidimensional, dynamic assessments in both the laboratory and the real world. Here, we describe the rationale and design of the currently ongoing HBS. The HBS is examining a population-based sample of 1,000 healthy participants (age 30-39) who are thoroughly studied across an entire year. Data are collected through cognitive, affective, behavioral, and physiological testing, neuroimaging, bio-sampling, questionnaires, ecological momentary assessment, and real-world assessments using wearable devices. These data will become an accessible resource for the scientific community enabling the next step in understanding the human brain and how it dynamically and individually operates in its bio-social context. An access procedure to the collected data and bio-samples is in place and published on https://www.healthybrainstudy.nl/en/data-and-methods/access. Trail registration: https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/7955.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affect / physiology
  • Behavior
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / physiology*
  • COVID-19 / diagnosis
  • Cognition / physiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neuroimaging
  • Sensation / physiology
  • Social Environment*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

The HBS is funded by the Reinier Post Foundation and Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The funders had and will not have a role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.