Multimodal Differences in Effort-based Decision-Making in Depression

Part of paid clinical trials in Atlanta, Georgia.

Sponsor
Georgia Institute of Technology
Study ID
NCT06648460
Status
Not Yet Recruiting

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Conditions

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - 65 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Effort-based Decision-Making Task — OTHER
    Virtual Reality-based multi-stage task in which individuals must explore distinct "rooms" in a virtual environment that vary in the amount of effort (walking) and reward (points) they receive.

Study Details

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious condition that causes long-term symptoms such as feeling sad, losing interest in activities, and having thoughts of self-harm. Difficulty in making an effort is a key factor in functional impairment. Current methods to evaluate this difficulty use clinical assessments and computer-based tasks, but there is a gap between the measurements and real-life behavior. To address this, the study team proposes creating an instrumented behavioral test, HORMES, to objectively assess reduced motivation during everyday activities and measure physiological responses. The study will examine differences in brain activity, autonomic system function, and metabolic energy expenditure in patients with major depression during a decision-making task that involves physical effort.

Key Dates

Start date
Aug 1, 2026
Status verified
Sep 2025
Primary completion
Aug 31, 2029
Completion
Sep 30, 2030

Study Design

Enrollment
90 participants (estimated)
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

  • Other: Effort-based decision-making
    Participants perform a virtual-reality-based task in which they expend effort to receive virtual rewards.

Primary Outcome Measure

Time spent in high-effort "rooms" [ Time Frame: 1 day ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Georgia Tech Manufacturing InstituteAtlantaGeorgia30308
Christopher J Rozell, Ph.D.
[email protected]
404-385-7671
Sankaraleengam Alagapan, Ph.D.
[email protected]

Find similar trials in Atlanta, GA

By condition
Depression
By specialty
PsychiatryMental healthBehavioral health
By research site
Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute· Atlanta, GA

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