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Subjective Valuation of Physical Effort in Health and Disease

Award Number: R01HD097619
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2019
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2024

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Subjective Valuation of Physical Effort in Health and Disease - PROJECT SUMMARY A major hurdle to compliance with rehabilitation therapies is poor effort on the part of patients, caused by fatigue and feelings of insurmountable effort. If a physical exercise feels very effortful one may be unwilling to exert the effort required, whereas if an exercise feels less effortful one may be more likely to persevere. Despite the ubiquity of effort-based judgments, and their disruption in a variety of neurological conditions, the mechanisms responsible for the subjective valuation of physical effort have received limited investigation. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that an individual's subjective valuation of effort is reflected in her inherent excitability of motor cortex, and that this metric is sensitive to disease state. We will perform experiments in healthy human participants; and a group of participants with multiple sclerosis (MS). We have developed a novel effort-based choice paradigm that allows us to obtain a precise objective measure of an individual's subjective valuation of effort. We will use this approach, in combination with computational modeling, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and noninvasive brain stimulation, to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the subjective valuation of effort. In Aim 1 we will study how motor physiology influences subjective effort valuation in healthy participants. We will use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to non invasively probe the physiological properties of participants' motor cortex; and we will have the same participants make decisions about effort while they are scanned with fMRI, and use this data to computationally model their subjective valuation of effort and associated brain activity. These experiments will allow us to test the relationships between an individual's representations of effort value and motor physiology. In Aim 2 we will identify the mechanisms of subjective effort valuation in patients with MS. We will use TMS and fMRI to investigate the neural and behavioral representations of effort value in MS. These experiments will shed light on the neural circuits that are disrupted in individuals with MS, suffering from feelings of fatigue. Our studies will have a broad impact on the fields of decision-making and motor control by dissecting the fundamental mechanisms responsible for physical effort valuation. This work will provide an understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying disrupted feelings of effort in MS, and may eventually reveal neurobehavioral markers and neuromodulatory interventions to aid in the prediction and treatment of rehabilitation non-compliance.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $396,988 )
2023	2023	HUGO W. MOSER RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT KENNEDY KRIEGER, INC.	707 N BROADWAY	BALTIMORE	MD	21205	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	5	6/23/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$396,988
														Subtotal = $396,988

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $396,984 )
2022	2022	HUGO W. MOSER RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT KENNEDY KRIEGER, INC.	707 N BROADWAY	BALTIMORE	MD	21205	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	4	7/7/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$396,984
														Subtotal = $396,984

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $396,978 )
2021	2021	HUGO W. MOSER RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT KENNEDY KRIEGER, INC.	707 N BROADWAY	BALTIMORE	MD	21205	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	6/24/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$396,978
														Subtotal = $396,978

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $405,076 )
2020	2020	HUGO W. MOSER RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT KENNEDY KRIEGER, INC.	707 N BROADWAY	BALTIMORE	MD	21205	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	2	6/10/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$405,076
														Subtotal = $405,076

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $405,062 )
2019	2019	HUGO W. MOSER RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT KENNEDY KRIEGER, INC.	707 N BROADWAY	BALTIMORE	MD	21205	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	7/26/2019	NEW	$405,062
														Subtotal = $405,062

Grand Total All Awards = $2,001,088

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Subjective Valuation of Physical Effort in Health and Disease

Award Number: R01HD097619

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2019

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2024

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