Research Project on Decision-Making
Innovative approach to researching and treating mental illnesses
• Manche Menschen treffen blitzschnell lebensverändernde Entscheidungen, andere sind durch zu viele Optionen wie gelähmt.
• Diese Entscheidungsprobleme verursachen erheblichen Leidensdruck, insbesondere bei Patienten mit Schizophrenie oder Zwangsstörungen.
• Ein internationales Forschungsteam unter Beteiligung des Max-Planck-Instituts für biologische Kybernetik untersucht die zugrundeliegenden Gehirnmechanismen.
• Das Projekt erhält rund 6 Mio. Euro Fördermittel von der Stiftung Wellcome Trust.
Whether we're choosing a TV series or making an important life decision—collecting and evaluating information is central to our thinking. But what happens when this process becomes imbalanced? Some people tend to act hastily, taking too little information into account. Others collect data endlessly without ever making a decision.
Impaired decision-making in schizophrenia and OCD
These problems can be particularly pronounced in people with certain mental health conditions. Patients with schizophrenia tend to make hasty decisions and place excessive confidence in them—a cognitive bias known as jumping to conclusions, which is closely linked to the formation of delusions. In contrast, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is marked by persistent doubt. Individuals with OCD may spend hours gathering information, even when faced with relatively simple decisions.
Even though these decision-making difficulties cause significant distress, they have hardly been treated in a targeted manner to date, and the underlying brain processes in schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder remain unclear. This is precisely what the research project aims to change. “Our goal is to decode the neural mechanisms that lead to these distorted thought patterns and to develop new therapies for treating the symptoms using state-of-the-art computational models,” explains Tobias Hauser, professor at Tübingen University Hospital and the project's head. “We want to find out whether the symptoms in both conditions are caused by similar neural changes,” he adds. “By exploring the similar symptom patterns in both mental disorders, we also hope to help break the stigma that surrounds schizophrenia and OCD.”
A comprehensive research approach
The project, set to begin in February 2026, will combine different approaches: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers aim to collect the largest dataset to date on indecision in obsessive-compulsive disorder and on jumping to conclusions in schizophrenia. In parallel, experiments with mouse models will examine how alterations in dopamine function during information gathering impact the brain networks involved in cognitive control. “We already know that dopamine plays various key roles in decision-making,” says Peter Dayan, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, who will oversee the modelling of all research data—from mouse models to patient datasets. “It encodes unexpected changes in long-run outcomes, which is crucial for sculpting our behavior. However, the full picture of its roles, variability, and dysfunctions is still unclear.”
Improved therapies for better quality of life
In the long term, the project aims to contribute to the development of targeted therapies that directly address impaired decision-making. This could help both people who tend to jump to conclusions and those who get lost in endless thought loops.
The research initiative is set to run for five years. The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the National Institute Of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences in Bengaluru (India) and the Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona (Spain) are also involved.
Founded in 1936, the Wellcome Trust invests nearly half a billion dollars annually in biomedical studies, particularly in basic research.