# Noninvasive brain stimulation as a tool to study the role of motivation in age-related cognitive abilities

> **NIH NIH R21** · NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $203,365

## Abstract

Fundamental advancements in understanding successful aging are limited by the lack of causal, rather than just
correlational methods to connect age-related changes in memory ability to changes in brain structure and function.
In this project, non-invasive electrical brain stimulation will be used as a tool to create causal links between
successful memory function in aging and brain structures associated with motivation. Recently, it was shown that a
group of elderly, dubbed “superagers”, are indistinguishable from young adults in memory performance and the
structure of cortical limbic regions. A key superaging region is mid-cingulate cortex (MCC), a brain structure
associated with motivation and tenacity. The MCC is a hub region that synchronizes information flow between
three core brain networks: the salience network, associated with attention to affectively relevant cues; the
frontoparietal control network, associated with executive control; and the default mode network, traditionally
associated with memory. The goal of the research is to explore the contribution of motivation to memory
performance by modulating MCC connectivity with non-invasive brain stimulation. This R21 project will combine
prior research on superagers, prior functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research on network function,
and expertise in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in two innovative studies spanning across three
specific aims to provide the first causal evidence that experimentally induced motivation can improve memory
performance. Specific Aim 1 will examine how memory performance can best be influenced with tDCS by
comparing three stimulation protocols against a placebo. Specific Aims 2 and 3 will investigate the effects of
stimulation on motivation and network connectivity, respectively. The protocol most effective in modulating
memory performance will be used in a subsequent experiment in which fMRI is acquired during a memory task.
This data will be used to investigate how increased resting-state connectivity and task-evoked activity of MCC
correlate with motivation and memory function in older adults. If indeed memory can be improved by increasing
motivation and effort via stimulating MCC, this project will generate new insights into the motivational
mechanisms of successful aging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9879671
- **Project number:** 5R21AG061743-02
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sumientra Marijke Rampersad
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $203,365
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9879671

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9879671, Noninvasive brain stimulation as a tool to study the role of motivation in age-related cognitive abilities (5R21AG061743-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9879671. Licensed CC0.

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