Effort-based decision-making in depression in Parkinson's disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effort-based decision-making, reward, and dopamine in depression in Parkinson’s disease
IRAS ID
304606
Contact name
Jonathan Roiser
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2021/08/89 , UCL Data Protection number
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Parkinson's disease is the fastest-growing neurological condition globally. It affects brain cells that produce a neurotransmitter called dopamine which causes progressively disabling problems with movement. Depression is common in Parkinson’s affecting up to a third of patients. However, our understanding of the underlying causes of depression in Parkinson’s is poor and current treatments are ineffective.
My project aims to identify whether dopamine-dependent difficulties in decision-making are a cause of depression in Parkinson's.
I will recruit four groups of participants; Parkinson's patients with depression, Parkinson's patients without depression, patients with depression without Parkinson's, and healthy controls.
Following psychiatric evaluation and detailed measurement of depressive symptoms, all groups will complete a computerised task that measures how much effort participants are willing to expend for a potential reward. Difficulties with this kind of decision-making are a core component of loss of motivation and interest in engaging with pleasurable experiences, both common symptoms in depression and Parkinson's. The task involves asking participants whether to accept or reject offers of money in return for exerting different levels of physical effort via grip force.
Parkinson's patients will also complete the task having not taken their normal dopamine medications, enabling analysis of dopamine’s role in depression and decision-making in Parkinson's.
To identify which brain regions are involved in depression in Parkinson's, Parkinson’s patients will also perform the task on and off medication while undergoing a brain scan that measures activity within specific regions of the brain.
This study will help improve our understanding of depression in Parkinson's and whether it differs from depression in people who don't have Parkinson's, indicating why current treatments may not work. It could also help identify what treatments are most likely to work, such as whether dopamine targeting antidepressants or psychological therapy which focuses on motivation and decision making should be used.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
22/NS/0007
Date of REC Opinion
29 Jan 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion