Learning and Decision-making

Maastricht University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Motivation

Treatments: Drug: propranolol 40mg; Drug: placebo; Drug: haloperidol 2mg

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06014606

DANE1

Details and patient eligibility

About

A fundamental aspect of daily life decision-making involves the evaluation of costs and benefits. Neural systems underlying cost-benefit evaluation have been extensively examined, but the specific role of different neurotransmitters remains unclear. Numerous studies suggest that both dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) are closely related to reinforcement learning, guided exploration/exploitation, and behavioural energisation, although no studies to date have investigated the distinct role of DA and NE on cost-benefit decision-making and learning in human subjects.

Enrollment: 150 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Willingness to sign an informed consent
• Age between 18 and 35
• Body-Mass Index (BMI) between 17.5-30
• Availability for participation through the duration of the study

Exclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of a psychiatric or neurological disorder, including substance abuse or dependence (yes/no self-report - lifetime)
• Use of any psychopharmacological treatment 3 weeks before the test day (yes/no self-report)
• Use of any blood pressure medication (yes/no self-report - lifetime)
• Pregnancy (confirmed via urine pregnancy test) or nursing (yes/no self-report) or have plans to get pregnant in the near future (yes/no self-report) (females only)
• Diagnosis of a cardiac disease (medical questionnaire), obstructive respiratory disease (medical questionnaire), abnormal blood pressure (diastolic< 60mmHg; systolic< 90mmHg) (medical screening)
• Chronic renal failure (medical questionnaire)
• Hypothyroidism (medical questionnaire)
• Diabetes (medical questionnaire)
• Hypersensitivity to phenothiazines (medical questionnaire)
• Diagnosis of a cardiac disease (medical questionnaire)
• Alcohol consumption in the 24 hours before the test session starts (yes/no self-report)
• Food intake less than 3 hours before the test day (yes/no self-report)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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150 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

HV/Placebo

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Oral placebo (tablet)

Treatment:

Drug: placebo

HV/Haloperidol

Active Comparator group

Description:

2mg (oral)

Treatment:

Drug: haloperidol 2mg

HV/Propranolol

Active Comparator group

Description:

40mg (oral)

Treatment:

Drug: propranolol 40mg