LABS is a longitudinal study that tracks adolescent brain development over a period of up to five years. Our goal is to better understand the adolescent brain, and to use this knowledge to improve youth mental health.
To achieve this goal, we need young people in our community to participate in the project.
Participant eligibility
- Aged 12 (year 7), 13, 14 or 15 years (entry age for LABS)
- Proficient in spoken and written English
- Meet criteria to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Young people suffering from major medical illness, major neurological disorder, intellectual disability or who have sustained head injury (with loss of consciousness greater than 30 minutes) are unable to participate in the project.
Contact LABS if you are unsure if you are eligible to participate.
Project duration
To track adolescent brain development, we need to follow the same participants throughout high school. This means that to participate, you need to be able to commit to being part of the project on an ongoing basis until you turn 17 years to 17 years 11 months.
While this is a significant commitment, your participation will directly contribute to our understanding of the human brain. This is a unique opportunity to be part of a world-first research project and help improve mental health outcomes for young people.
What the project involves
As a participant, you will complete an assessment three times per year (eg every four months).
Each assessment includes a block of neurocognitive activities and brain imaging. These can be completed on the same day or within seven days of each other. A participant will have breaks between each activity.
Neurocognitive activities
These activities include:
Brain imaging
These are common neurological assessments used in clinics and hospitals every day. MRI and EEG imaging are safe and should not cause distress or discomfort. You will be shown the MRI scanner and EEG lab before your assessment, so you will have the opportunity to see how the technology works and ask questions.
These activities include:
Project results
As a participant, you will receive a newsletter keeping you up to date on the project. When the project is completed, you will receive a summary of the research findings. Research findings and results report on group level data. Latest news and updates will also be available through LABS News (see bottom of page).
Participants will receive individual feedback by way of a picture of their brain image and a $20 reimbursement voucher after completion of each assessment (up to 15 images and vouchers in total).
Privacy and confidentiality
By participating in the LABS project, you give consent for your assessment results (called ‘data’) to be used in this project and related future projects. You and your parent or caregiver will sign a consent form at the beginning of your participation.
Only non-identifiable data is used. Non-identifiable data is data that has had all personal details removed (so there is no way to link you to the data). Any identifiable information you provide will remain confidential, and will not be disclosed without your permission.
You will not be named in any reports or publications resulting from the research project. Any publications based on the research project will include only pooled results from all the participants, so your results will not be singled out.
The information you give will be held in a secure location for seven (7) years after any reports or publications are published, after which any identifying information will be destroyed.
Informed consent
On submission of an Expression of Interest to Participate, a participant's parent or caregiver will be contacted by a member of the LABS research team to discuss the project, ensure the participant meets the inclusion criteria, and book the initial assessment appointment. An email confirming appointment time with attached location map and Research Project Information Sheet will be sent.
At the initial assessment appointment, a member of the LABS research team will discuss informed consent and explain the Research Project Information Sheet to both the participant and their parent or caregiver. Participation in LABS is voluntary, and consent to participate is required from both the participant and their parent or caregiver.
For more information refer to the Research Project Information Sheet (PDF 134KB) *
* For PDF documents you must have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded from the Adobe Download Page.