The Sense of Agency (SOA)

Behavioural and Neurofunctional Correlates of the Sense of Agency

The ability to recognize of being the actors of the behaviour and its consequences, the so-called "Sense of Agency" (SoA), is a crucial component of self-awareness. One key aspect is the distinction from a mere inference about the causality between an act and its consequences and the sense of being the agent of it. Despite a large number of behavioural studies, there is unsatisfactory evidence on the functional anatomical underpinnings of the SoA and the distinction between causality and the SoA proper. Here, the investigators use an implicit measurement of the SoA and its modulations during fMRI: the intentional binding phenomenon (IB). The ivestigators also study how the SoA and the ensuing neurophysiological correlates are modulated by the presence of a movement disorders, such as Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Motor Activity; Motor Tic Disorders
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Behavioral and fMRI

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 50

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • Milan, Italy, 20161
    • Recruiting
    • IRCCS Galeazzi Orthopedic Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy controls and patients with Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age included between 18 and 65 years
• Right handed
• No contraindication to the fMRI exam

Exclusion Criteria:

• Contraindication to the fMRI exam

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Healthy subjects	Other: Behavioral and fMRI; Subjects and patients will perform temporal-judgment-tasks (considered an indirect measure of the sense of agency) in an event-related fMRI setting. In the first task, they will hear a sound either caused by a voluntary key press or by the passive displacement of the same finger by the experimenter. Following each trial, subjects will estimate the delay between the finger movement and the subsequent sound, which will be presented at variable latencies after the key press. There will be also control-trials characterized by the active or passive movement with a subsequent sound presented with a delay that excludes causality inferences.
Patients with Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome	Other: Behavioral and fMRI; Subjects and patients will perform temporal-judgment-tasks (considered an indirect measure of the sense of agency) in an event-related fMRI setting. In the first task, they will hear a sound either caused by a voluntary key press or by the passive displacement of the same finger by the experimenter. Following each trial, subjects will estimate the delay between the finger movement and the subsequent sound, which will be presented at variable latencies after the key press. There will be also control-trials characterized by the active or passive movement with a subsequent sound presented with a delay that excludes causality inferences.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
BOLD signal changes	The investigators will measure the changes of the BOLD signal associated with the modification of the sense of agency both in healthy subjects and neurological patients.	April 2017 - October 2019

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): April 8, 2017
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): July 29, 2017
• Study Completion (ANTICIPATED): January 23, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 28, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 1, 2017
• First Posted (ACTUAL): December 4, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): December 5, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 4, 2017
• Last Verified: December 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Movement Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Tic Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: SOA

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No