Understanding and Boosting Motivation using Brain Stimulation

Información del proyecto

BOOMSTIM

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 702799

DOI

10.3030/702799

Proyecto cerrado

Fecha de la firma de la CE 21 Marzo 2016

Fecha de inicio 1 Septiembre 2017

Fecha de finalización 24 Mayo 2020

Financiado con arreglo a

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Coste total

€ 175 419,60

Aportación de la UE

€ 175 419,60

Coordinado por

UNIVERSITAT ZURICH
Switzerland

Objetivo

Imagine losing the motivation to do the job that you used to enjoy. The idea of doing those tasks overwhelms you. You cannot push yourself to give the best efforts and end up doing the bare minimum. What are the brain processes that cause such depleted motivation and how can we restore the motivation to put in effort in order to achieve goals? To address these questions, I propose a series of studies to gain a theoretical and practical understanding of the causal relationship between brain computations of effort and the motivation to energise behavior to achieve goals. Specifically I plan to conduct, for the first time, a combined brain stimulation-functional neuroimaging (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation-TMS; functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging-fMRI) experiment to perturb brain regions whose activity represents the amount of effort costs, and measure its impact on neural value computations in a remote but interconnected brain region known to drive choice behavior. This change in causal interplay in the brain should have a quantifiable impact on the motivation to expend effort. I will then use this theoretical knowledge to design a large-scale application of an inexpensive brain stimulation method (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation-tDCS) to increase motivation, thus establishing a realistic and versatile protocol for restoring motivation in rehabilitative settings. In sum, my research will address the overarching question of how motivation can be enhanced with neuroscience techniques, by combining computational and neuroimaging advances in effort discounting with causal brain stimulation methods. This project will allow me to be trained in the two most common brain stimulation techniques at a pioneering lab in Europe, and forge a new collaborative research line at the Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research at the University of Zurich.

Ámbito científico (EuroSciVoc)

• ciencias naturales › ciencias biológicas › neurobiología

Programa(s)

• H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions PROGRAMA PRINCIPAL
  
• H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
  

Tema(s)

• MSCA-IF-2015-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF)
  

Régimen de financiación

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

Convocatoria de propuestas

H2020-MSCA-IF-2015

Coordinador

UNIVERSITAT ZURICH

• Aportación neta de la UEn: € 175 419,60
• Dirección: RAMISTRASSE 71 ; 8006 Zurich ; Suiza
• Región: Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera › Zürich › Zürich
• Tipo de actividad: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Coste total: € 175 419,60