Motivation, Learning and Decision Making in Changing Environments

NCT07314112 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: 2024-A02725-42VP2024-09
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The main objective of this study is to develop a models of sequential decision-making, learning and motivation that includes emotions as driving forces of adaptive behaviour. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the investigators will test the hypotheses that distinct parts of the prefrontal cortex play specific roles in naturalistic decision-making. The main hypothesis is that distinct regions of the prefrontal cortex will be differentially involved in learning, motivation, and decision-making in naturalistic tasks. More specifically, the investigators hypothesise that by using a novel set of tasks they have designed in combination with fMRI, they can construct a neurocognitive model that explains how humans make adaptive decisions in dynamic and temporally extended reward environments. A key region that the investigators believe will play a role in representing the internal and external parameters necessary for adaptive behaviours in the tasks is the anterior cingulate cortex. Depending on the task requirements, this region will further interact with other distinct prefrontal regions such as the frontal pole or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Secondary hypotheses will also be investigated, specific to each specific task. All data will be collected during a single visit lasting approximately 3.5 hours for each participant. Participants will perform a cognitive task inside the MRI scanner. Each participant will perform only one of the three possible cognitive conditions/tasks (Treasure Hunt, Fastest Queue, or Farm Game). Each task is presented in the form of a video game played on a computer. Participants play a character who makes repeated choices. Participants are asked to try to collect as many points as possible within a limited time frame (Farm Game) or with limited trials (Fastest Queue and Treasure Hunt).

Conditions

Neurocognitive Model; Decision-Making

Keywords

Cognitive neurosciences; decision making; reward; cognitive psychology; fMRI

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Functional brain activity

  Brain activity will be indirectly measured using the BOLD (blood-oxygen-level dependent) signal to test the neural correlates of our key task variables extracted using our cognitive models to infer potential neural mechanisms in our neurocognitive model.

  baseline

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Decisions on the Farming game

  baseline

• Decisions on the Fastest Queue task

  Baseline

• Decisions on the Treasure Hunt Game

  Baseline

Study Arms (3)

Farming game

motivational fluctuation task: participants can gain points by engaging in some activities in the environment or just staying in one place. Throughout the experiment the level of reward for each patch will change to measure participants' sensitivity to different reward levels.

Fastest Queue

prospective planning and learning task: participants observe two queues moving at different speeds shown to them in the middle of the screen. They need to decide which of two queues to stand in, and are asked about their beliefs about how fast individual queue members might get to the goal.

Treasure hunt

sequential and incremental goal pursuit task: Participants need to decide between multiple goals to pursue framed as treasures in order to gain points. The treasures can be worth different amounts and the participant will be travelling to them at different speeds.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 45 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy volunteers

You may qualify if:

• Age between 18 and 45
• Fluent in French (reading and speaking)
• Membership or entitlement to a social security plan
• Have given written, informed consent to take part in the study
• Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
• Right-handed
• Body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 30
• contraindication to MRI: pacemaker, heart battery, cardiac defibrillator, certain heart valves or neurosurgical clips, cochlear implant, implanted automated injection systems (insulin pump), intraocular metal projectiles, people who work or have worked with metals (excluding X-rays prior to MRI).
• under guardianship or curatorship or deprived of their liberty
• Breast-feeding or pregnant women
• claustrophobia
• Neurological disorder or severe chronic illness (diabetes, heart, kidney, lung or liver disease, inflammatory disease, psychiatric illness, etc.).
• The participant does not wish to be informed of any abnormalities detected during the MRI examination.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hôpital le Vinatier: lead
• INSERM U1208: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

INSERM

Bron, 69500, France

Location

Study Officials

• Nils Kolling, PhD

  INSERM U1208, Ecological Cognition and Computation Team

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Nils Kolling, PhD

CONTACT

+33 04 72 91 34 95; nils.kolling@inserm.fr

Méline Devaluez, PhD

CONTACT

+33437915514; meline.devaluez@ch-le-vinatier.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 17, 2025
• First Posted: January 2, 2026
• Study Start: January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2029
• Last Updated: January 7, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Locations

FR (1)