For this study we need patients with MND to participate in an interview based around a questionnaire which aims to capture a history of lifetime sporting activities.  We also need to recruit people without MND to complete the same test.  People without MND act as “controls” and we need two volunteers per patient.  The purpose of a control is to compare and therefore validate the information obtained from the MND group.  This is typical for all research projects. 

To avoid bias in the study, the control population must be from the same geographic area. Epidemiological studies have indicated that the best way to select controls is from the lists of general practitioners in the geographic areas of the patients with MND.