Decision MakingNCT07293637
Identifying the Neural Correlates of Mental Simulation in Multi-Step Planning
A study testing Four-in-a-Row Task in people with Decision Making and Cognition, run by New York University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
Planning is the ability to think ahead by considering possible future actions and their consequences. This research study aims to understand how the brain supports multi-step planning by testing whether people simulate promising future move sequences while deciding what to do next. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 64 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Decision Making, Cognition, Mental Simulation
- What is being tested?
- Four-in-a-Row Task
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 50 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 10 Jul 2025to Dec 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 64 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- N/A
Who cannot join
- History of neurological or psychiatric illness
- Vulnerable populations
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
New York University
New York, New York, 10012
Facility contact, Ph.D., 929-399-9886, mattar.lab.nyu@gmail.com
Marcelo G Mattar, PhD
About this study
Planning is the ability to think ahead by considering possible future actions and their consequences. This research study aims to understand how the brain supports multi-step planning by testing whether people simulate promising future move sequences while deciding what to do next. Healthy adult volunteers will learn and play a strategy game called "Four-in-a-Row" (similar to Connect Four). Participants will complete two sessions on successive days: an online behavioral training/playing session and an in-person brain-recording session at New York University. During the brain-recording session, participants will view mid-game board positions and choose the best move while the study team records brain activity (using magnetoencephalography [MEG] or functional MRI [fMRI]) and eye movements. Data from the game and eye tracking will also be used to fit computational models of planning that help interpret the neural measurements.
Read the detailed description
This is a human neuroimaging study consisting of two related experiments designed to characterize the neural correlates of mental simulation during multi-step planning in the "Four-in-a-Row" game. Planning is modeled as a feature-based heuristic evaluation combined with look-ahead (tree search) that evaluates candidate actions by simulating future states and outcomes.
Participants complete two sessions on successive days. Session 1 is a ~60-minute online behavioral session in which participants learn the rules of Four-in-a-Row (including a comprehension/quiz check) and play multiple games against computer opponents spanning difficulty levels. Behavioral data from Session 1 are used to fit a computational model of planning for each participant.
Session 2 is an in-person neuroimaging session with simultaneous eye tracking. In the MEG experiment, participants complete a feature localizer followed by a primary planning task in which they evaluate mid-game board positions with a fixed decision window (e.g., 15 seconds) to encourage planning. B2 In the fMRI experiment, participants complete a planning task while BOLD activity and eye movements are recorded, using a trial structure designed to dissociate model-derived quantities such as myopic value and tree-search value.
The main analyses will test where (fMRI) and when (MEG) the brain represents simulated future states, their values, and the evolving decision process, guided by participant-specific computational-model predictions.
- Conditions
- Decision Making, Cognition, Mental Simulation, Problem Solving, Planning
- Being tested
- Four-in-a-Row Task
- Keywords
- Four-in-a-Row, Planning, Tree search, Computational modeling, Eye tracking, MEG, fMRI
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Four-in-a-Row TaskBehavioural
Deterministic, adversarial 'Four-in-a-Row' decision-making task that requires thinking multiple steps ahead. Participants complete a training/gameplay session and a laboratory session in which they choose moves from mid-game positions while behavioral responses (and eye movements, if applicable) are recorded. After the neuroimaging session, participants may play a full match outside the scanner for an additional monetary reward.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| MEG cohort | Experimental | Single-group study in healthy adults. Participants complete a behavioral training session and then an in-person session performing the Four-in-a-Row planning task during MEG (with an additional MEG localizer task, as applicable). Receives: Behavioral: Four-in-a-Row Task |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Percent of moves correctly predicted by the behavioral model
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.
Measured: 1 hour
MEG activity
Task-evoked MEG activity during different stages of the task, specifically deliberation about upcoming decisions.
Measured: 1 hour
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted19 Dec 2025
- Study start10 Jul 2025
- Primary completionMar 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionDec 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Decision MakingStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by New York UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 50 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- New York University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07293637
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 24-1331
- Other IDs
- 1R01MH134979-01A1
- Status last verified
- Dec 2025
- First submitted
- 17 Dec 2025
- Last updated
- 8 Jan 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: De-identified participant-level behavioral task data (choices/RT), eye-tracking measures, and analysis code. Neuroimaging data will be shared as de-identified derivatives (and/or raw data if allowed by consent and de-identification procedures). Supporting metadata/documentation (e.g., scanning protocols) and analytic code used for published analyses will also be shared.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 8 Jan 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Identifying the Neural Correlates of Mental Simulation in Multi-Step Planning
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07293637
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 24-1331
- Conditions
- Decision Making, Cognition, Mental Simulation, Problem Solving, Planning
- Keywords
- Four-in-a-Row, Planning, Tree search, Computational modeling, Eye tracking, MEG, fMRI
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 50 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- New York UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Study start
- 10 Jul 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Mar 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Dec 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 19 Dec 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Planning is the ability to think ahead by considering possible future actions and their consequences. This research study aims to understand how the brain supports multi-step planning by testing whether people simulate promising future move sequences while deciding what to do next. Healthy adult volunteers will learn and play a strategy game called "Four-in-a-Row" (similar to Connect Four). Participants will complete two sessions on successive days: an online behavioral training/playing session and an in-person brain-recording session at New York University. During the brain-recording session, participants will view mid-game board positions and choose the best move while the study team records brain activity (using magnetoencephalography [MEG] or functional MRI [fMRI]) and eye movements. Data from the game and eye tracking will also be used to fit computational models of planning that help interpret the neural measurements.
Detailed description
This is a human neuroimaging study consisting of two related experiments designed to characterize the neural correlates of mental simulation during multi-step planning in the "Four-in-a-Row" game. Planning is modeled as a feature-based heuristic evaluation combined with look-ahead (tree search) that evaluates candidate actions by simulating future states and outcomes.
Participants complete two sessions on successive days. Session 1 is a ~60-minute online behavioral session in which participants learn the rules of Four-in-a-Row (including a comprehension/quiz check) and play multiple games against computer opponents spanning difficulty levels. Behavioral data from Session 1 are used to fit a computational model of planning for each participant.
Session 2 is an in-person neuroimaging session with simultaneous eye tracking. In the MEG experiment, participants complete a feature localizer followed by a primary planning task in which they evaluate mid-game board positions with a fixed decision window (e.g., 15 seconds) to encourage planning. B2 In the fMRI experiment, participants complete a planning task while BOLD activity and eye movements are recorded, using a trial structure designed to dissociate model-derived quantities such as myopic value and tree-search value.
The main analyses will test where (fMRI) and when (MEG) the brain represents simulated future states, their values, and the evolving decision process, guided by participant-specific computational-model predictions.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| MEG cohort | Experimental | Behavioral: Four-in-a-Row TaskSingle-group study in healthy adults. Participants complete a behavioral training session and then an in-person session performing the Four-in-a-Row planning task during MEG (with an additional MEG localizer task, as applicable). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 64 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- N/A
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- History of neurological or psychiatric illness
- Vulnerable populations
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Four-in-a-Row TaskDeterministic, adversarial 'Four-in-a-Row' decision-making task that requires thinking multiple steps ahead. Participants complete a training/gameplay session and a laboratory session in which they choose moves from mid-game positions while behavioral responses (and eye movements, if applicable) are recorded. After the neuroimaging session, participants may play a full match outside the scanner for an additional monetary reward. | Behavioural | MEG cohort |
Primary outcome
Percent of moves correctly predicted by the behavioral model
Time frame: 1 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 activity
Time frame: 1 hour
Task-evoked MEG activity during different stages of the task, specifically deliberation about upcoming decisions.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 8 Jan 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. De-identified participant-level behavioral task data (choices/RT), eye-tracking measures, and analysis code. Neuroimaging data will be shared as de-identified derivatives (and/or raw data if allowed by consent and de-identification procedures). Supporting metadata/documentation (e.g., scanning protocols) and analytic code used for published analyses will also be shared.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Four-in-a-Row Task in people with Decision Making and Cognition, run by New York University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 8 Jan 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Each site lists its own contact: choose the nearest one under Trial locations. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Percent of moves correctly predicted by the behavioral model (time frame: 1 hour). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 8 Jan 2026.