Understanding Brain Activity During Multi-Step Planning

This study aims to understand how your brain plans ahead, specifically when you need to think multiple steps into the future. Researchers are using a game similar to Connect Four, called "Four-in-a-Row," to observe your brain activity. You would participate in two sessions: an online training and gameplay session, and an in-person session at New York University where your brain activity will be measured using MEG (magnetoencephalography) or fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). The study is looking for healthy adults between 18 and 64 years old who do not have a history of neurological or psychiatric illness. The main goals are to see how well a computer model can predict your game moves and to measure your brain activity during planning. The current recruitment status is unclear.

Study design
This is an interventional study with a planned enrollment of 50 participants. It is designed to characterize the brain activity during multi-step planning.
What's involved
You would complete two sessions on successive days: a 60-minute online session and an in-person brain-recording session. The in-person session involves evaluating game positions while brain activity is recorded.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Brain activity and move predictions will be measured at 1 hour during the in-person session.

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NCT07293637

Identifying the Neural Correlates of Mental Simulation in Multi-Step Planning

Recruiting
NAAges 18–64InterventionalBasic science
New York University
~50 participants
Updated 2026-01-08 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Four-in-a-Row Task

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Percent of moves correctly predicted by the behavioral model
Measured over 1 hour
+1 more outcome measured
Decision Making
Cognition
Mental Simulation
Problem Solving
Planning
1 sites across 1 states
New York1

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

N/A

Exclusion

History of neurological or psychiatric illness
Vulnerable populations
  • Percent of moves correctly predicted by the behavioral model1 hour

    Participant choices in the Four-in-a-Row task are used to fit a computational behavioral model. After fitting, the model predicts an action for each state; we quantify the percent of participant moves matched by the model's predicted move.

  • MEG activity1 hour

    Task-evoked MEG activity during different stages of the task, specifically deliberation about upcoming decisions.