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As recruitment for our groundbreaking ‘Forest-1’ brain study nears completion, current participants have come together at an engagement event to share their experiences of being part of this innovative research. Pictured above are participants in the study along with members of our research team.

They talked about how pleased they were to have been asked to be part of the study, said the sessions were fun, and praised our research team for making them feel respected by taking time to listen to them and understand their needs.

One participant said: “At the sessions they are great fun and very easy to talk to. I have a speech problem, and they take time to listen and understand me – lots of people don’t try but they are brilliant.”

We were awarded a £6.5million grant for the trial, using Forest-1, a new ultrasound-based brain interface developed by Forest Neurotech, to study brain activity in unprecedented detail, in 2025 by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).

The study aims to improve our understanding of how different brain networks are involved in mood and emotional processing.

So far, 18 of the planned 20 participants have been recruited, all of whom have undergone a craniectomy (where part of the skull is temporarily removed), or cranioplasty (skull reconstructive plate). This allows researchers to use ultrasound to study brain activity, as ultrasound waves cannot normally penetrate an intact skull sufficiently for them to image the brain.

The first participants, Andy and Adam, began taking part in sessions earlier this year and seven have now completed all their study visits, while others are at various stages in their involvement. These sessions include computer tests such as rating whether words are positive or negative while ignoring happy or sad faces alongside them and watching short videos to stimulate emotions such as happiness or sadness. During these tests, researchers use the Forest-1 device to observe changes in brain activity, which helps them better understand how the brain processes different emotions.

The engagement event, held at Queen’s Hospital on Wednesday 15 July, was an opportunity to gather feedback to help shape and improve future research, including the next stage of this trial, it was also a chance for participants to meet others with similar medical experiences, creating a supportive community among those taking part.

Laura Parker-Wall, senior clinical research nurse, said:

Recruitment is going well so far, and all the patients have been very enthusiastic and engaging. This was our second engagement event, the first was held last year, and it went really well. It was the first time everyone was in a room together and they were all keen to meet each other.

Participants had felt very isolated due to what they’d been through and taking part has given them an opportunity to meet others with similar experiences. It was nice to see them chat with each other and build relationships.

Natalie Simon, senior clinical research fellow, added: 

Forest-1 is giving us a unique opportunity to study the human brain in a way that has not been possible before. By exploring how the brain processes emotions such as happiness and sadness, we hope to gain new insights into how different brain regions work together during everyday emotional experiences.

Hearing their positive experiences and how much participants have enjoyed taking part in the study has been incredibly rewarding for the whole research team. We’re extremely grateful to everyone who has volunteered their time to make this research possible.