Healthy Clinical Trials in Sacramento, CA

The norepinephrine-producing locus coeruleus (LC) is thought to be central to a wide array of cognitive functions, like attention and goal pursuit, and has been implicated in dysfunctions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia. The goal of this proposal is to develop methods that permit measurement of activity in the human LC. Because the LC is small and located in the pons, the Investigators will use high resolution magnetic resonance imaging techniques tailored to the brainstem environment, including neuromelanin-sensitive images shown to delineate the LC, combined with pharmacological manipulation to confirm the location of functional activity. Read Less

Two randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical studies to assess the effects of dietary glycan monomer supplementation on the immune system, especially antibody glycosylation in healthy adults. Immune profiling and glycoproteomics will be performed on serum isolated at these same time points. Read Less

The global aim of this study is to investigate how the human microbiome changes from baseline with commonly used topical medications such as topical antifungals, low to mid potency topical steroids and emollients. The specific aims are as follows: Investigate whether ketoconazole cream, a commonly used topical antifungal, causes alterations in the human skin microbiome with short-term use. Investigate whether desonide 0.05 % ointment, a commonly used low potency topical steroid, alters the human microbiome with short-term use. Read Less

The investigators will conduct a parallel-group, placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind ascending dose Phase I study of dietary supplementation in healthy individuals to evaluate safety and to determine the pharmacologically effective dose (ED). Read Less

The purpose of this study is to better understand the neural correlates of higher-order cognition, both in the healthy brain and in schizophrenia, and to determine how these mechanisms are modulated by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) at frontal and occipital scalp sites. Testing the effects of tDCS at these scalp sites on cognitive task performance will help us understand the roles of the brain regions corresponding to these sites during higher-order cognitive processing (language comprehension, cognitive control, and related attention and memory processes). Behavioral and electrophysiological (EEG) measures will be used to assess cognitive performance. Our overarching hypothesis is that stimulating prefrontal circuits with tDCS can improve cognitive control performance, and ultimately performance on a range of cognitive tasks, as compared to stimulating a different cortical region (occipital cortex) or using sham stimulation. This study is solely intended as basic research in order to understand brain function in healthy individuals and individuals with schizophrenia. This study is not intended to diagnose, cure or treat schizophrenia or any other disease. Read Less