Brain Stimulation and Decision-making
Eligible age
18–50 yrs
Accepts
All genders
Locations
1 state
Healthy volunteers
Yes
See if you qualify for this study
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About this study
Decision-making is an important process that is frequently shown to be impaired in patients with depression. While a number of preclinical and clinical studies have identified key regions involved in this process, it remains unclear exactly how these regions are influencing choice behavior especially when choices become more challenging. The goal of this project is to understand how these regions, such as the cingulate cortex, impact difficult choice behavior. Specifically, the researchers are interested in learning how disruptions in cognitive control might impact choice preferences during difficult decisions in depressed patients. To do this, this study will recruit participants with depression (as well as healthy controls) to perform game-like tasks in the laboratory while undergoing TMS or TI.
Sponsor: Emory University
You may qualify if…
- ✓ Provides written informed consent
- ✓ Fluent English speaker
- ✓ Absence of current drug use as assessed by subject history and/or urine drug screen
You may not qualify if…
- ✕ Pregnant or currently breastfeeding women or any woman of childbearing potential who is seeking to become pregnant or suspects that she may be pregnant, as assessed by subject report and/or urine pregnancy screen
- ✕ Contraindications to fMRI scanning (including presence of a cardiac pacemaker or pacemaker wires, metallic particles in the body, vascular clips in the head or previous neurosurgery, prosthetic heart valves, claustrophobia) as assessed with the standard MRI screening form from the Facility for Research and Education in Neuroscience (FERN)
- ✕ Unable to fit comfortably in the scanner
- ✕ Contraindication to TMS, including history or family history of epilepsy, metallic implants in the head and/or neck, brain stimulators, vagus nerve stimulators, ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt, pacemakers
- ✕ Current use of medications that may increase the risk of seizures (e.g., bupropion, varenicline, chlorpromazine, theophylline) or reduce the effects of rTMS, such as benzodiazepines
- ✕ History or current serious or unstable medical illness, including cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, respiratory, endocrine, neurologic, or hematologic disease, as assessed by subject history
- ✕ Not right-handed as assessed by the Chapman handedness inventory or self-report
- ✕ History of head injury resulting in more than a brief loss of consciousness, as assessed by subject history
Where it's recruiting
Atlanta
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · NCT04099056 · last updated 2025-12-10