Brain Network Mechanisms Causally Underlying Human Decisions Revealed by Brain Stimulation and Functional MRI

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT05027854

Enrollment

1800

Registered

2021-08-30

Start date

2021-09-01

Completion date

2025-09-30

Last updated

2021-08-30

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

Conditions

Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms

Brief summary

We will examine how stimulation of specific brain areas with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or transcranial electric stimulation (tES) changes specific aspects of behavior and brain activity, in order to test hypotheses about brain behavior relationships (basic research).

Interventions

OTHERTMS or tES

Transcranial magnetic or electric stimulation

OTHERsham TMS or tES

Sham transcranial magnetic or electric stimulation

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 80 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* between 18 and 80 years of age (whereby for most studies the majority of recruited participants will be between 18 and 40 years of age) * right-handedness and/or one specific gender (male or female) can be inclusion criteria to reduce variation in the data.

Exclusion criteria

* inability to understand the instructions and insufficient knowledge of the project language * Internal electronic and/or metallic objects in the head, neck, or shoulders (e.g. artificial cochleae, deep brain stimulators, medical pumps, shrapnel, metallic splinters due to accidents during metal welding) * One or more epileptic fits in the participant or a first-degree relative * Vascular, traumatic, tumoral, infectious, or metabolic brain damage * Use of medication that significantly alters cortical excitability * Acute sleep deprivation or withdrawal from alcohol * pregnancy * to reduce bias, students of psychology or economics can be excluded if there is a possibility that they are familiar with the relevant paradigm.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Speed of Behaviour	0-60 minutes after stimulation	Reaction time in miliseconds
Accuracy of Behaviour	0-60 minutes after stimulation	Accuracy in percent correct
Cognitive Function driving Behaviour	0-60 minutes after stimulation	Parameter of Model describing cognitive function governing behaviour
Brain activity	0-60 minutes after stimulation	BOLD contrast in fMRI data

Contacts

Primary ContactChristian Ruff, PhD

christian.ruff@econ.uzh.ch+41 44 634 50 67

Outcome results

None listed

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