The motivational brain

Question 1

What are the 3 principles to the motivated and emotional brain?

Answer 1

• Different brain structures give rise to specific motivational states
• Communication between neurons and within the endocrine system
• The body reacts and adapts to the changes within the body

Question 2

What are the more important brain structures for motivation and emotion?

Answer 2

Subcortical Areas
- Reticular Formation
- Amygdala
- Dopamine-circuit
- Basal Ganglia
- Hypothalamus
Cortical Areas
- Insula
- ACC
- PFC

Question 3

Hypothalamus

Answer 3

• Important for motivation
• Connected to 20 nuclei
• Regulates physiological needs such as hunger, thirst etc
• Regulates endocrine system (pituitary gland) and ANS, helps adapting to environment
• Generate arousal or relax or releasing hormones

Question 4

Medial Forebrain Bundle

Answer 4

• Close to the pleasure center in the brain
• Generally positive feelings

Question 5

Orbifrontal Cortex

Answer 5

• Processes incentive-related information; make choices between options
• Considering option, remember whether something was good or bad

Question 6

Amygdala

Answer 6

• Detects and responds to threatening and/or emotional significant events
• Involved in self-preservation
  Fear, anger, anxiety
• Perception of others emotions, expression and our own mood
• Plays a role in learning new emotional associations
  Fear, for example
• Sends info to a lot of brain structures, barely get anything in return

Question 7

Septo-Hippocampal Circuit

Answer 7

• Cognitive activity from memory and imagination
• Anticipation pleasure or anxiety
• Nucleas Accumbens
  Experience of pleasure, naturally occuring reinforcers and drugs
  Generates a liking
• Hippocampus
  Compares sensory info with expected events
  Okay and not okay modes(high arousal)

Question 8

Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Answer 8

• Control of day-to-day mood, volition and making choices
• Decreased activity = sadness and depression
• Greater blood flow in ACC, when you consider many options

Question 9

Reticular Formation

Answer 9

• Key role in arousal and awakening motivational and emotional concerns
• Ascending and descending

Question 10

Medial PFC

Answer 10

• Central role learning of response-outcome contingencies, perceptions of control and mastery motivation

Question 11

PFC

Answer 11

• Conscious goals, embedded in emotion
  rPFC thoughts - negative and avoidance feelings
  lPFC thoughts - positive and approach-oriented feelings
• Differences in sensitivity, changes personality; sensitive to positive emotions and incentives vs stability to reactions of threats, punishments and negative emotion