Project description
Exploring the fluctuations of human motivation
Life on Earth has evolved in harmony with the day-night cycle, with most species relying on a circadian system to regulate crucial biological processes over a 24-hour period. This intrinsic clock affects everything from our energy levels to our mood. However, harnessing this knowledge for therapeutic purposes has remained a challenge. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the VIMAD project aims to predict when our motivation peaks and wanes and uncover the cognitive and neural mechanisms behind it. In the first phase, a large-scale field study will use a mobile app to track motivation fluctuations. Phase 2 will explore the role of dopamine in time-of-day motivation by manipulating it in selected participants.
Objective
Life on earth has evolved in synchrony with the day-night cycle. Most species, from single-cell plants to humans, have a circadian system that operates as a pacemaker, modulating a multitude of biological processes across the 24h period. Given the ubiquitous involvement of the circadian system in our physiology, it is not surprising that motivation and related neural systems such as dopamine also vary across the day, but with large variation between individuals. Time-of-day is increasingly being utilised to strengthen treatment effects and facilitate behavioural change. However, we still lack fundamental mechanistic knowledge for establishing more effective and widespread therapeutic applications in mental health care as well as in daily life. Hence, there is a need to more fully understand the circadian clock of motivation and drive. The objective is, first, to predict “when” (i.e. at which time of day) drive and motivation are heightened and blunted, and second, to scrutinise the underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms. Specifically, in phase 1, I plan to conduct a large-scale field study using a mobile application to quantify fluctuations in motivation to engage in daily-life behaviours and cognitive mechanisms including incentive motivation, reinforcement-learning, and cognitive flexibility. Then, in phase 2, I will use this knowledge to probe the role of dopamine in time-of-day effects of motivation by pharmacologically modulating dopamine at different times of day in a subset of the participants from phase 1. The combination of field research and basic experimental research will provide unique and clarifying knowledge of how and why motivation fluctuates both within and between individuals. Given the significant role of motivation in the healthy and sick brain, the results will provide novel valuable insights for the society at large.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
6525 GA NIJMEGEN
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.