Memory Loss & the Brain

Clinical studies refer to research that is performed on human subjects, often patients in a hospital or clinic. They can include evaluation of the effects of different kinds of injury, disease or abnormality, such as a study to determine whether Parkinson's disease involves memory impairments as well as motor impairments. They can include evaluation of the effectiveness of different kinds of treatment or therapy, such as whether a new drug is more effective and safe than existing treatments for a particular disorder. Researchers proposing to conduct clinical studies must satisfy strict regulations set forth by the government to ensure that subjects are treated fairly and protected from harm, and that the potential results justify any inconvenience or discomfort to the subject. In any study involving human subjects, the experimenters are legally required to inform the subject beforehand of what the experiment involves, and to obtain the subject's consent before initiating any research.