Neurology

In neurology, motivation is studied from a physiological perspective by examining the brain processes and brain areas involved in motivational phenomena. It uses data from both humans and animals, which it obtains through a variety of methods, including the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. ^[1] It investigates regular motivational processes, pathological cases, and the effect of possible treatments. ^[2] It is a complex discipline that relies on insights from fields like clinical, experimental, and comparative psychology. ^[3]

Neurologists understand motivation is a multifaceted phenomenon that integrates and processes signals to make complex decisions and coordinate actions. ^[4] Motivation is influenced by the organism's physiological state, like stress, information about the environment, and personal history, like past experiences with this environment. All this information is integrated to perform a cost benefit analysis, which considers the time, effort, and discomfort associated with pursuing a goal as well as positive outcomes, like fulfilling one's needs or escaping harm. This form of reward prediction is associated with several brain areas, like the orbitofrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate, and the basolateral amygdala. ^[5] The dopamine system plays a key role in learning which positive and negative outcomes are associated with a specific behavior and how certain signals, like environmental cues, are related to specific goals. Through these associations, motivation can automatically arise when the signals are present. For example, if a person associates having a certain type of food with a specific time of day then they may automatically feel motivated to eat this food when the time arrives. ^[6]

Sources

• Rolls, Edmund T. (13 May 2023). "Emotion, motivation, decision-making, the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and the amygdala". Brain Structure and Function. 228 (5). doi: 10.1007/s00429-023-02644-9.
• Bromberg-Martin, Ethan S.; Matsumoto, Masayuki; Hikosaka, Okihide (9 December 2010). Dopamine in motivational control: rewarding, aversive, and alerting.
• Simpson, Eleanor H.; Balsam, Peter D. (2016). "The Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation: An Overview of Concepts, Measures, and Translational Applications". Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. 27. doi: 10.1007/7854_2015_402. ISSN  1866-3370.
• Ivanov, Iliyan; Liu, Xun; Clerkin, Suzanne; Schulz, Kurt; Friston, Karl; Newcorn, Jeffrey H; Fan, Jin (November 2012). "Effects of motivation on reward and attentional networks: an fMRI study". Brain and Behavior. 2 (6). doi: 10.1002/brb3.80. ISSN  2162-3279.
• Volkow, N. D.; Fowler, J. S.; Gatley, S. J.; Logan, J.; Wang, G. J.; Ding, Y. S.; Dewey, S. (July 1996). PET Evaluation of the Dopamine System of the Human Brain.