Ever wondered what its like being a research participant?

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Read about the fantastic story told by Jacob Ogden about his experience of being involved in research.

Hi my names Jacob, I’m 10 years old and have Tourette’s.

I just wanted to tell you about my recent experience at Nottingham University when I participated in two research studies the loTUS 2 and CATS study.

When I arrived at the University I was met by Jane the research nurse and Soyoung the researcher working on the loTUS 2 study.

Soyoung took me to the room where I was doing the study and explained what I would have to do. There were four activities to complete which had 2D Robots in, this was a little bit difficult to do but it was fun and I enjoyed doing it, the activities lasted about an hour in total to complete. Whilst I was completing the activities Jane was with my dad asking him questions about me and my Tourette’s (the boring part!!)

Soyoung also gave me a monitor to wear at night (like a watch) to monitor my movement whilst I slept. I had to go back the next day to finish off the loTUS 2 study.
After I have completed the LoTUS 2 study I met with Himlar as I was going for a brain scan which was part of the CATS research project, it was a little scary going into the scanner but the researcher speaks to you whilst you are in there and checks that you are ok, it’s a bit noisy too but they give you ear plugs and ear defenders to wear. When I came out of the scanner the researcher showed me the images of my brain on the computer screen and explained what all the different colours meant, it was really cool.

For anyone thinking about doing a research study I would definitely recommend doing it as its fun, easy to do and the people are really nice. This would not only help you, but it can also help others!!!
Thanks for reading, Jacob Ogden.

Seonaid (research manager at Tourettes Action): Thank you so much Jacob – this will really help people to see that research doesn’t need to be uncomfortable or scary!

For anyone interested in being involved in research into the treatment & management of Tourettes Syndrome please sign up for our research participant registry or discuss with Seonaid Anderson.

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