Three types of volunteers are needed for this study: (1) activity only volunteer, (2) full volunteer, and (3) activity & social behavior only volunteer.

Please scroll down to see the volunteer role descriptions below, and check which role you are applying for.

Requirements:
- Wear a fitness device (Fitbit tracker)
- Allow your de-identified activity data to be part of the study
- Commit to at least 6 months of activity tracking

Benefits:
- Fitness device to keep (for those who do not already have one)
- Individualized predictive model of activity

Requirements:
- Provide a blood sample every 6 months for 2 years
- Wear a fitness device for ~24 hrs / day (Fitbit tracker)
- Allow your de-identified cell/protein data and activity data to be part of the study
- Commit to at least 2 years of activity tracking

Benefits:
- Fitness device to keep (for those who do not already have one)
- Individualized living neural network model
- Individualized predictive models for activity
- Access to lab tours and updates on the project

Requirements:
- Wear a fitness device (Fitbit tracker)
- Track social activity usage (amount and frequency, not specifics of social activity) via a smartphone
- Allow your de-identified activity and social activity usage data to be part of the study
- Commit to at least 6 months of activity and social activity usage tracking

Benefits:
- Fitness device to keep (for those who do not already have one)
- Individualized predictive model for activity and social usage

Q: Can I keep the fitness device?
A: Yes.

Q: When does the study start?
A: The study is recruiting now. Individual participants can start once they have been contacted and provided more detailed information by us; this includes signing permission forms and receiving the fitness devices.

Q: Do I need to start volunteering for the study now?
A: No. We're recruiting through at least 2023.

Q: What is the name Quantu for?
A: Quantu is a world map, or in this case a computer-generated (quantitative) mapping of an individual (you or tu) from daily behavior to cell signatures. Quantu is not an acronym.

Q: What age groups are you looking for?
A: A distribution of ages, both young and older volunteers

Q: Do I have to live in a certain location?
A: No. We are currently recruiting across the U.S. Workshops and in-person locations are in Texas and California.

Q: What are you ultimately hoping to find by this study?
A: An aim of this research is to identify whether specific biomarkers of new neuron formation link to daily activity patterns, with the long-term goal of identifying and designing new therapies or behavioral interventions that improve cognitive health and promote the healthy function of brain cells.

Q: Why is this information useful?
A: To understand what molecules, behaviors or processes underlie normal adult neural cell behavior, and what goes wrong in diseases that affect cognition (e.g., like dementia)

Q: Why activity tracking by fitness wearables?
A: Wearable technology provides access to quantitative data on human behaviors that research studies have linked to cognitive health (e.g., sleep, walking, blood pressure, blood oxygenation, social behavior).

Q: What are my chances of being accepted as a volunteer?
A: We are excited by the numbers of people who contacted us to volunteer. We won't know what percent of people will be accepted, however we aim to respond to you as soon as possible.

Q: Are there opportunities to learn about the science behind the study?
A: Yes, we host periodic workshops on brain health (https://www.quantuproject.org/workshops), an annual hands-on lab workshop and tutorials on data analysis (https://qutublab.org/when) and publish on our methods & the results of our studies (https://qutublab.org/publications).

We also will offer tours for full study volunteers to learn more about our work and technologies.