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Frontopolar Cortex and Motivation in Healthy Older Adults

NCT03197181 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 26

Last updated 2021-04-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Motivation represents a core aspect of goal-directed behavior as it determines how much effort individuals are willing to invest to reach their goals. While research on effort-based decision-making focuses mainly on effort preferences in younger adults, loss of motivation might be a key component of the apathetic tendencies frequently seen in older adults. However, an open question refers to which brain mechanisms underlie motivational processes in older adults. The investigators have recently shown that the frontopolar cortex plays a crucial in motivating the exertion of rewarded effort in younger adults. The goal of the current study is to determine whether frontopolar cortex plays a crucial role for motivation also in older adults and may thus be a promising target for improving the motivation deficits in healthy aging. Participants perform computer-based experimental tasks measuring the propensity to exert cognitive or physical effort for monetary rewards. During task performance, participants receive anodal or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over their frontopolar cortex. The study tests whether tDCS over frontopolar cortex allows modulating participants' motivation to engage in rewarded effort.

Conditions

  • Motivation in Healthy Older Adults

Interventions

DEVICE

transcranial direct current stimulation

Participants receive anodal or sham transcranial direct current stimulation while performing effort-based decision tasks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Zurich

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Philippe N Tobler, Prof. · University of Zurich

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
65 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2018-01-16
Primary Completion
2020-06-30
Completion
2020-06-30

Countries

  • Switzerland

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03197181 on ClinicalTrials.gov