Understanding how brain and body interact during decision-making under physical effort
Official title: A naturalistic multimodal platform for capturing brain-body interactions in people during physical effort-based decision making
Funded at Georgia Institute of Technology · NIH-11046239 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study is looking at how your brain affects the choices you make when it comes to physical activities, especially if you have a mental health condition like depression or Parkinson's disease, and it will use a virtual reality setup to track your brain and body while you move.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Georgia Institute of Technology NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Atlanta, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2025 |
| Project end | January 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $1,174,487 |
| NIH project number | 1R61MH138966-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11046239 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this research include individuals experiencing motivational deficits due to conditions such as major depression or Parkinson's disease.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without motivational deficits or those not experiencing psychiatric disorders may not benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This research investigates how brain activity influences decision-making when physical effort is involved, particularly in individuals with psychiatric disorders. It aims to develop a new system called HORMES that captures real-time data on brain and body interactions during immersive tasks that require physical movement. By using a virtual environment, the study will measure various aspects of behavior and neural activity simultaneously, providing a comprehensive view of how these factors affect decision-making. This approach seeks to improve our understanding of motivational deficits in conditions like depression and Parkinson's disease.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could lead to better treatments for psychiatric disorders by enhancing our understanding of how physical effort impacts decision-making.
How similar studies have gone: While the approach of using immersive environments for studying brain-body interactions is innovative, similar methodologies have shown promise in other areas of neuroscience.
Where this research is happening
-
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rozell, Christopher John — Georgia Institute of Technology
- Study coordinator: Rozell, Christopher John
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.