Understanding the Neural Underpinnings of Risk-Taking Behavior in Psychiatric Disease

Summary

The purpose of this study is to understand how the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a region at the front of the brain, guides decisions about whether to pursue a possible reward when doing so also carries a risk of loss, and how this process is altered in depression. People with depression are often less motivated by rewards and more sensitive to potential losses, leading them to avoid situations that others would approach. The OFC is thought to play a central role in these "approach or avoid" decisions, but how it normally does so, and what goes wrong in depression, is not well understood.

Shortened from the sponsor's brief summary. View official record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Conditions studied

• Depression - Major Depressive Disorder

Eligibility basics and study details

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

Sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Last updated on ClinicalTrials.gov

October 27, 2026

These are the basic criteria only. The full inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official record, and the study team decides who can take part.

US recruiting sites