Actively Recruiting
Development and Validation of Learning and Decision-Making Tasks
Led by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) · Updated on 2026-03-27
550
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
509 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
Background: Substance use disorders (SUD) can be considered disorders in the way people process incentives, learn, and make decisions. To understand why some people develop SUD, researchers need to develop reliable tests that show how people think and learn. This natural history study seeks to develop a set of tasks that could then be used to test how people learn and make decisions. Objective: To develop and validate behavioral tasks that could be used in future studies. Eligibility: Healthy people aged 18-45 years from the Baltimore area. They must also be enrolled in the NIDA screening protocol. Design: Participants will perform different tasks. Most tasks require 1-4 study visits; some may require up to 12. Visits are 1-14 days apart. All visits will last about 1-7 hours. Participants will perform tasks on a computer. As they work they may be given different stimuli: Smells. Participants will sniff odors through a plastic tube or mask on their nose. Flavors. Participants will wear a mouthpiece and small amounts of different flavored liquids will be placed in their mouth. Pictures. Participants will look at different images. Sounds. Participants will wear headphones and various sounds will be played for them. Food. Participants may be asked to eat a meal before, during, or after a task. The researchers will provide the meal. During each task, participants will wear sensors to monitor their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and other physical changes in their bodies. Some participants will have a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. They will lie on a table that slides into a cylinder. They will perform tasks on a computer screen during the fMRI.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Development and Validation of Learning and Decision-Making Tasks
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Male or female aged 18 to 45 years
- In good general health
- For MRI phase: right-handed
- Enrolled in the NIDA screening protocol
- Able to perform behavioral tasks on computer
You will not qualify if you...
- History of neurological illnesses or brain surgery, including stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Huntington's, tumors, significant head trauma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, or movement disorders
- Current unresolved psychiatric disorders with recent (past 12 months) regular psychiatric medication use
- Past psychiatric disorders over 12 months ago without current symptoms or medication use may be allowed
- Harmful alcohol or drug use in past 12 months indicating loss of control or dependence
- Daily nicotine, alcohol, or drug use (excluding caffeine) for at least 4 continuous weeks in past 12 months
- Current use of psychoactive or alertness-affecting medications that cannot be withheld before study visits
- History of severe allergies or anaphylaxis affecting food or odor stimuli tasks
- Uncorrected vision problems
- Non-English speaking
- Pregnancy
- Any condition judged incompatible with participation by investigators
- For MRI phase: incompatible metallic implants or claustrophobia preventing MRI scanning
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
Complete this quick 3-step screening to check your eligibility
Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21224
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
N
NIDA IRP Screening Team
CONTACT
T
Thorsten Kahnt, Ph.D.
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Masking
N/A
Allocation
N/A
Model
N/A
Primary Purpose
N/A
Number of Arms
1
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