Research on people is a vital part of work to understand human biology and disease processes, and the impact of new medicines. It calls for the highest possible levels of care and support. The Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facilities (CRFs), the UK's first sites dedicated to research on people, provide an environment uniquely tailored to clinical research.

The Cambridge CRF, based at Addenbrooke's Hospital, has strengths in areas such as nutrition, energy balance and obesity, endocrinology and metabolic defects, and brain function.

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With Wellcome Trust support, Professor Barbara Sahakian, Professor Trevor Robbins and colleagues have used the CRF to study cognitive function in healthy volunteers – specifically, their ability to suppress impulsive behaviours and to learn from complex input.

They were able to distinguish effects mediated through two key pathways in the brain: noradrenaline and serotonin systems. This work will shed light on conditions in which these behaviours are disrupted, including depression, drug addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The CRFs support high-quality research funded by a range of bodies. A notable example in 2006 was the study of an individual in a persistent vegetative state, who showed specific neural responses to stimuli, suggesting that she retained conscious awareness. This study, funded by the Medical Research Council, depended on both the expertise and equipment at the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre and the CRF's accommodation and intensive clinical and nursing care.

External links

• Chamberlain SR et al. Neurochemical modulation of response inhibition and probabilistic learning in humans. Science 2006;311(5762):861–3.
• Owen AM et al. Detecting awareness in the vegetative state. Science 2006;313(5792):1402.