Brain stimulation to test how we make decisions in healthy adults

Is this trial a fit for you?

A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.

What this trial studies

Healthy volunteers participate in four sessions over four days to see how non-invasive brain stimulation affects decision-making strategies. The task online presents two of seven objects, with rewards that shift and are linked by learned relationships. Researchers compare hippocampal and striatal stimulation against two control conditions to see which brain region supports map-based generalization versus stimulus-outcome learning. Neural stimulation uses intermittent theta-burst patterns during decision trials, and behavior is modeled to separate different decision-making strategies.

Why it matters

Who can join: the full rules

Inclusion Criteria:

* No diagnosis of any neurological or psychiatric disease

Exclusion Criteria:

* Severe neuropsychiatric or unstable systemic disease
* Severe sensory or cognitive impairment or musculoskeletal dysfunction that would prevent subjects from understanding the task instructions or executing the tasks
* Implanted medical devices
* Diagnosis of epilepsy or history of one or more epileptic seizure(s)
* Pieces of metal in/around the head
* Regular consumption of narcotics (also excluded: cannabis within past month, alcohol abuse or dependence)
* Pregnancy and breast feeding
* Incapability of giving informed consent
* Left-handedness

Subjects included in the study will be excluded from analyses if their datasets are incomplete. To ensure full counterbalancing, excluded subjects will be replaced by new ones.

Where it's running

• University Hospital Würzburg (UKW)
  Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany Recruiting

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Maximilian J. Wessel, Prof. Dr. — University Hospital Würzburg (UKW)
• Study coordinator: Jana S. Ludwig, M. Sc.
• Email: ludwig_j5@ukw.de
• Phone: 0049 931 3183395

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How to take part

1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
2. Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
3. Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.