Brain networks that drive motivation
Official title: Neural Bases of Motivation
Run by Hospices Civils de Lyon · NCT07251816 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study will try different non-invasive brain stimulation methods in healthy adults (18-40) to see if changing connectivity between frontal, striatal, noradrenergic, and motor circuits alters willingness to exert effort for rewards.
Quick facts
| Study type | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Ages | 18 Years to 40 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Enrollment | 204 (estimated) |
| Sponsor | Hospices Civils de Lyon Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Bron) |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Started | January 14, 2026 |
| Main results expected | January 2033 |
| Study ends | January 2033 |
| Registry record updated | January 22, 2026 |
| Trial ID | NCT07251816 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
Is this trial a fit for you?
✓Likely a good fit
Ideal candidates are healthy adults aged 18-40 without neurological, psychiatric, substance-use, developmental, or major motor disorders and who meet the local compulsory social security affiliation requirement.
✕Probably not a fit
People with diagnosed neurological or psychiatric disorders, substance dependence, major motor or traumatic brain injuries, older adults, or those seeking direct therapeutic benefit are unlikely to gain direct benefit from participation.
A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.
What this trial studies
Effort-based decisions are measured using behavioral tasks while investigators apply several non-invasive neuromodulation techniques to probe circuit function. The trial targets fronto-striatal and noradrenergic systems and their connections with motor cortical structures using approaches such as ccPAS, tACS, tTIS combined with oscillatory TMS, tDCS, and tVNS. By manipulating connectivity and recording changes in effort-related choices and brain connectivity measures, the study aims to test causal links between these networks and motivation. All participants are healthy volunteers screened to exclude neurological, psychiatric, substance-use, developmental, and major motor disorders.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could identify specific brain-circuit targets to guide future therapies aimed at reducing apathy and improving motivation across neurological and psychiatric conditions.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has linked fronto-striatal and noradrenergic systems to motivation and some non-invasive stimulation studies have modified related behaviors, but the specific causal role of connectivity to motor structures remains largely untested.
Who can join: the full rules
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 40 years * Participants without confounding factors such as neural alterations related to neurological pathology, whether neurodegenerative (e.g., Alzheimer, Parkinson, Huntington, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), motor (e.g., dystonia, essential tremors, cerebellar syndrome), traumatic (e.g., traumatic brain injury, medulla lesion) or psychiatric pathologies, whether mood disorders (e.g., depression, bipolarity), anxious troubles (e.g., obsessional compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder), psychotic (e.g., schizophrenia, delusion), substance-related (e.g., alcool, drug or medicine addiction), food-related (e.g., anorexia, bulimia), neurodevelopmental (e.g., autism, attention-deficit with hyperactivity disorder) or personality (e.g., borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder). * Participants affiliated with a compulsory social security scheme. Exclusion Criteria: * Persons deprived of liberty by judicial or administrative decisions. * Pregnant women, women in labor or breastfeeding women * Persons admitted to a health or social institution for purposes other than research. * Adults under legal protection measures (e.g., guardianship or curatorship). * Participation in other interventional research with an ongoing non-inclusion period. * Neurological or psychiatric disorders. * Use of tricyclic antidepressants (amitriptyline, clomipramine, imipramine, nortriptyline), neuroleptics (chlorpromazine, haloperidol, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine), or recreational drugs within the past 48 hours. * Regular use of recreational drugs. * Sleep deprivation (\< 5 hours regularly over the last 3 months) * Left-handedness or ambidexterity. * Physical injuries impacting motor tasks. * Presence of metal implants in the head (excluding oral fillings). * Presence of implanted medical devices (e.g., pacemaker). * Presence of metallic injuries in the eyes. * Claustrophobia. * Piercings incompatible with MRI procedures. * Contraindication to MRI * Persons who refused to be informed of eventual medical anomalies discovered by the MRI * Personal or family history (first-degree relatives) of epilepsy or seizures. Severe and/or frequent headaches (only for participants receiving transcranial magnetic stimulation, e.g preparatory experience 1 and experience 1) * Baldness impeding electrode placement (only for participants receiving transcranial electrical stimulation and EEG measurements, e.g experiments 2, 3 and 4) * Facial or ear pain and/or recent ear trauma (only for participants receiving transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation, e.g experiment 5)
Where it's running
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Equipe ImpAct CRNL, INSERM U1028 CNRS UMR 5292
Bron, France Recruiting
Study contacts
- Study coordinator: Gerard DEROSIERE, Dr
- Email: gerard.derosiere@inserm.fr
- Phone: 680872505
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How to take part
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
- Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.