Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

Duke University

Code:

NCT05929898

Conditions

Motivation

Memory

Self-regulation

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 45

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Ventral tegmental area of dopaminergic midbrain (VTA) fMRI neurofeedback

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this research study is to understand how healthy individuals self-regulate motivation by observing brain activity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Conditions

Motivation

Memory

Self-regulation

Study ID

NCT05929898

Start date

Jul 30, 2023

Status verified date

Jul, 2026

Completion date

Sep 9, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 8, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 45

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age between 18 and 45 years
  • Right-handed
  • In good general health

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current or diagnosis within past six months of an DSM-V Axis I or Axis II disorder (self-reported)
  • CES-D score of 20 or higher (indicating significant current depression symptoms)
  • Current or past six month use of prescription medications indicated for psychiatric conditions (e.g.,depression, anxiety)
  • Current serious medical illness (self-reported)
  • Head injury resulting in loss of consciousness
  • For participants age > 59 years, a total scaled score < 8 on the Dementia Rating Scale-2.
  • A clinically-defined neurological disorder including, but not limited to:
  • Any condition likely to be associated with increased intracranial pressure
  • Space occupying brain lesion
  • History of stroke
  • Transient ischemic attack within two years
  • Cerebral aneurysm
  • Dementia
  • Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE) score of <24
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Huntington's disease
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Presence of cochlear implants or other implanted electronic devices or non-removable metal (e.g., non-removable piercing, IUD)
  • History of an eye injury involving metal. Participants who worked with metal may be allowed to participate on a case-by-case basis with prior written approval from BIAC.
  • Claustrophobia or unwillingness to tolerate the confinement associated with being in the MRI scanner.
  • Weight of more than 250 pounds

Study Design

Enrollment

190 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Intentional Versus Cue-Evoked Midbrain Activation

Participants meeting study inclusion will be scheduled for two sessions: one baseline behavioral visit and an fMRI session to assess the ability to self-stimulate VTA activation. Session one will include a battery of cognitive assessments and a demonstration of the reward-based learning task in session two. The experimental imaging task session will be done within one week of session one. Participants will been randomly split into two group: group one will complete a reward-based learning task before the VTA activation task and group two will complete reward task after VTA activation. During the VTA activation task, participants will be instructed to achieve a heightened state of motivation using personally relevant thoughts and imagery.

experimental: Intentional Midbrain Activation Effects on Effort-Based Decision Making

Participants will be randomly assigned to an MRI group or a behavioral control group. All participants will complete an effort-based learning task and a series of questionnaires in session one. Session two may include an MRI based on group assignment. Participants in the MRI group will complete the VTA activation task. Following, they will complete the effort task and questionnaires a second time. The behavioral control group will complete a second session consisting of the effort task and questionnaires.

experimental: Intentional Midbrain Activation Effects on Motivated Memory

Participants will take part in four sessions: visit 1-baseline + memory encoding, visit 2-memory retrieval, visit 3-memory encoding, visit 4-memory retrieval). Encoding and retrieval of the memoranda will occur 24 hours apart. Study visits will take place no more than 7 days apart. One group of participants will complete all sessions at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. The remainder of participants will complete the encoding sessions in the MRI machine, .

Interventions

Ventral tegmental area of dopaminergic midbrain (VTA) fMRI neurofeedback

fMRI neurofeedback training of sustained midbrain/VTA activation via motivational imagery.

Primary outcome measure

  • Percent signal change in VTA BOLD activation [ Time Frame: During the MRI scan, approximately 2 hours ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Alannah Rivera-Cancel, BA

919-385-0836amr81@duke.edu

R. Alison Adock, MD, PhD

919-681-4601alison.adcock@duke.edu

Locations

Center for Cognitive Neuroscience

Recruiting

Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27708

Contacts

R. Alison Adcock, MD, PhD

919-681-4601alison.adcock@duke.edu

Alannah M Rivera-Cancel, BA

919-385-0836amr81@duke.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Duke University

Last update posted

Jul 10, 2026

Last verified

Jul, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Duke University on 2026-07-10.