NCT04684797

Localization of the Reward Positivity to ACC

Status unknown NA Last updated 5 January 2024

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Virtual T-maze task in Refractory Epilepsy in 40 participants. Status unknown.

Timeline

4 March 2021

Primary endpoint
30 September 2024

30 September 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University Hospital, Ghent
Phase	NA
Status	Status unknown
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	na
Design	single group
Masking	none
Primary purpose	basic science
Enrollment	40
Start date	4 March 2021
Primary completion	30 September 2024
Estimated completion	30 September 2024
Sites	1 location across Belgium

Drugs / interventions tested

• Virtual T-maze task

Conditions studied

• Refractory Epilepsy — all drugs for Refractory Epilepsy →

Sponsor

University Hospital, Ghent

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Refractory Epilepsy. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

The exact function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is one of the largest riddles in cognitive neuroscience and a major challenge in mental health research. ACC dysfunction contributes to a broad spectrum of neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as depression, ADHD, Parkinson's disease, OCD and many others, but nobody knows what it actually does. Recently a new theory has been developed about ACC function; the HRL-ACC (Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning Theory of ACC). This theory proposes that the ACC selects and motivates high-level tasks based on the principles of hierarchical reinforcement learning. The ACC associates values with tasks, selects the correct tasks and applies control over other neural networks (such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia), which execute the tasks. The values of these tasks are attributed based on "reward prediction error signals", which are sent from the midbrain dopamine system to the ACC. These signals can be recorded using scalp-EEG as an "event-related brain potential" (ERP), which is called the "reward positivity". Until this day, the exact origin of the reward positivity is not yet known. Studies have delivered strong indirect evidence that the reward positivity is generated in the ACC. However, there is an important lack of direct evidence to support this hypothesis. The goal of this study is to provide direct evidence that the reward positivity is generated in the ACC by letting a group of patients with refractory epilepsy perform the virtual T-maze task (which is known to elicit reward positivity) and simultaneously recording intracranial video-EEG.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.