Learning and Decision-making

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Motivation
• Interventions: Drug: haloperidol 2mg; Drug: propranolol 40mg; Drug: placebo

• Registration Number: NCT06014606
• Lead Sponsor: Maastricht University

Brief Summary

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.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2021-03-01
• Study First Submitted: 2022-09-05
• Primary Completion: 2023-04-30
• Status Verified: 2023-08
• Study Completion: 2023-08-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-08-23
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-08-23
• Study First Posted: 2023-08-28
• Last Update Posted: 2023-08-28

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 150

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)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
HV/Haloperidol	haloperidol 2mg	2mg (oral)
HV/Propranolol	propranolol 40mg	40mg (oral)
HV/Placebo	placebo	Oral placebo (tablet)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cost-benefit reinforcement learning performance	~ 2.5 hours post-drug administration	2-choice reinforcement learning task (based on Voulgaropoulou et al., 2021 PNEC)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Effort-based decision-making	~ 2 hours post-drug administration	motivation to acquire rewards (e.g., Reddy et al. 2015)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Maastricht University; 🇳🇱 Maastricht, Netherlands