Ignite Creation Date:
2024-07-17 @ 10:50 AM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 3:34 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT06489561
Status:
ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
Last Update Posted:
2024-07-15
First Post:
2024-06-28
Brief Title:
Neural Computations of Goal-directed Decision-making
Sponsor:
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Organization:
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Study Overview
Official Title:
Probing the Neural Computations Underlying Goal-directed Decision-making in Humans With Single-neuron Recordings
Status:
ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
Status Verified Date:
2024-07
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
The purpose of this research is to better understand how the human brain accomplishes the cognitive task of making goal-directed decisions These investigations are critical to better understand human cognition and to design treatments for disorders of decision making and performance monitoring
Detailed Description:
Flexible goal-directed decision-making is a core aspect of higher-order adaptive biological intelligence A number of psychiatric disorders involve impairments in goal-directed decision-making yet the current lack of even a basic understanding of how goal-directed action selection is implemented at the neuronal level in humans hinders the ability to pinpoint these neuropsychiatric dysfunctions In particular it is completely unknown how goals and the stimuli and actions that need to be selected from in order to pursue them are represented at the level of single neurons nor how goals get selected from available possible goals
The study experiments utilize the rare opportunity to record in-vivo from human single neurons simultaneously in multiple brain areas in patients undergoing treatment for drug resistant epilepsy The study will utilize a combination of i in-vivo recordings in awake behaving humans assessing decision making accuracy and ability through choice ratings ii computational analysis and modeling
These techniques will be applied to characterize the functional contribution of human ventromedial prefrontal vmPFC dorsal anterior cingulate dACC and pre-supplementary motor area pre-SMA in these processes Investigators will first test the longstanding proposal never tested at the neuronal level in humans that the value of stimuli is especially represented by neurons in vmPFC while the value of actions are more represented by neurons in dorsal cortical areas such as the pre-SMA Investigators will then address how goals themselves are represented In the real world animals including humans need to select a goal before any action is performed Thus there is a hierarchical process of goal selection followed by action selection Investigators hypothesize that the vmPFC plays a specific role in goal-valuation and selection while neurons in dorsomedial areas including pre-SMA and dACC will play more of a role in valuing and selecting the actions that implement the chosen goal
The expected outcome of this work is a comprehensive understanding of the functions of the human PFC in goal-directed decision-making at cellular resolution while shedding light on the neural mechanisms of goal-representation and selection which hitherto has been virtually unstudied
The study experiments utilize the rare opportunity to record in-vivo from human single neurons simultaneously in multiple brain areas in patients undergoing treatment for drug resistant epilepsy The study will utilize a combination of i in-vivo recordings in awake behaving humans assessing decision making accuracy and ability through choice ratings ii computational analysis and modeling
These techniques will be applied to characterize the functional contribution of human ventromedial prefrontal vmPFC dorsal anterior cingulate dACC and pre-supplementary motor area pre-SMA in these processes Investigators will first test the longstanding proposal never tested at the neuronal level in humans that the value of stimuli is especially represented by neurons in vmPFC while the value of actions are more represented by neurons in dorsal cortical areas such as the pre-SMA Investigators will then address how goals themselves are represented In the real world animals including humans need to select a goal before any action is performed Thus there is a hierarchical process of goal selection followed by action selection Investigators hypothesize that the vmPFC plays a specific role in goal-valuation and selection while neurons in dorsomedial areas including pre-SMA and dACC will play more of a role in valuing and selecting the actions that implement the chosen goal
The expected outcome of this work is a comprehensive understanding of the functions of the human PFC in goal-directed decision-making at cellular resolution while shedding light on the neural mechanisms of goal-representation and selection which hitherto has been virtually unstudied
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
False
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
False
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None
Secondary IDs
| Secondary ID | Type | Domain | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| R01MH133729 | NIH | None | None |