The Sense of Agency

Behavioural and Neurofunctional Correlates of the Sense of Agency

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT03361332

Acronym

SOA

Enrollment

Registered

2017-12-04

Start date

2017-04-08

Completion date

2020-01-23

Last updated

2017-12-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity, Motor Tic Disorders

Brief summary

The ability to recognize of being the actors of the behaviour and its consequences, the so-called Sense of Agency (SoA), is a crucial component of self-awareness. One key aspect is the distinction from a mere inference about the causality between an act and its consequences and the sense of being the agent of it. Despite a large number of behavioural studies, there is unsatisfactory evidence on the functional anatomical underpinnings of the SoA and the distinction between causality and the SoA proper. Here, the investigators use an implicit measurement of the SoA and its modulations during fMRI: the intentional binding phenomenon (IB). The ivestigators also study how the SoA and the ensuing neurophysiological correlates are modulated by the presence of a movement disorders, such as Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome.

Interventions

OTHERBehavioral and fMRI

Subjects and patients will perform temporal-judgment-tasks (considered an indirect measure of the sense of agency) in an event-related fMRI setting. In the first task, they will hear a sound either caused by a voluntary key press or by the passive displacement of the same finger by the experimenter. Following each trial, subjects will estimate the delay between the finger movement and the subsequent sound, which will be presented at variable latencies after the key press. There will be also control-trials characterized by the active or passive movement with a subsequent sound presented with a delay that excludes causality inferences.

Study design

Observational model

OTHER

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 65 Years

Inclusion criteria

* Age included between 18 and 65 years * Right handed * No contraindication to the fMRI exam

Exclusion criteria

* Contraindication to the fMRI exam

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
BOLD signal changes	April 2017 - October 2019	The investigators will measure the changes of the BOLD signal associated with the modification of the sense of agency both in healthy subjects and neurological patients.

Countries

Italy

Contacts

Primary ContactSara Zacchetti

sara.zacchetti@grupposandonato.it+390266214057

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026