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Localization of the Reward Positivity to ACC

NCT04684797 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 40

Last updated 2024-01-05

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The exact function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is one of the largest riddles in cognitive neuroscience and a major challenge in mental health research. ACC dysfunction contributes to a broad spectrum of neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as depression, ADHD, Parkinson's disease, OCD and many others, but nobody knows what it actually does. Recently a new theory has been developed about ACC function; the HRL-ACC (Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning Theory of ACC). This theory proposes that the ACC selects and motivates high-level tasks based on the principles of hierarchical reinforcement learning. The ACC associates values with tasks, selects the correct tasks and applies control over other neural networks (such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia), which execute the tasks. The values of these tasks are attributed based on "reward prediction error signals", which are sent from the midbrain dopamine system to the ACC. These signals can be recorded using scalp-EEG as an "event-related brain potential" (ERP), which is called the "reward positivity". Until this day, the exact origin of the reward positivity is not yet known. Studies have delivered strong indirect evidence that the reward positivity is generated in the ACC. However, there is an important lack of direct evidence to support this hypothesis. The goal of this study is to provide direct evidence that the reward positivity is generated in the ACC by letting a group of patients with refractory epilepsy perform the virtual T-maze task (which is known to elicit reward positivity) and simultaneously recording intracranial video-EEG.

Conditions

  • Refractory Epilepsy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Virtual T-maze task

Patients will have to perform the virtual T-maze task, which is known to elicit reward positivity. During this task, the patients will see a virtual T-maze on a computer screen and have to choose at every junction whether they go right or left. Depending on the direction they choose, they either get positive or negative feedback (reward or no reward). This feedback is chosen completely at random, on a 50% reward/50% no reward basis.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University Ghent

    collaborator OTHER

  • University Hospital, Ghent

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Alfred Meurs, MD PhD · University Hospital Ghent, Department of Neurology

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-03-04
Primary Completion
2024-09-30
Completion
2024-09-30

Countries

  • Belgium

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 NCT04684797 on ClinicalTrials.gov