{"id":78509,"date":"2022-04-11T20:35:01","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T20:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=78509"},"modified":"2022-04-11T20:35:01","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T20:35:01","slug":"to-do-or-not-to-do-cracking-the-code-of-motivation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/to-do-or-not-to-do-cracking-the-code-of-motivation\/","title":{"rendered":"To do or not to do: cracking the code of motivation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our motivation to put effort for achieving a goal is controlled by a reward system wired in the brain. However, many neuropathological conditions impair the reward system, diminishing the will to work. Recently, scientists in Japan experimentally manipulated the reward system network of monkeys and studied their behavior. They deciphered a few critical missing pieces of the reward system puzzle that might help in increasing motivation.<\/p>\n

\"\"Why do we do things? What persuades us to put an effort to achieve goals, however mundane? What, for instance, drives us to search for food? Neurologically, the answer is hidden in the reward system of the brain \u2013 an evolutionary mechanism that controls our willingness to work or to take a risk as the cost of achieving our goals and enjoying the perceived rewards. In people suffering from depression, schizophrenia, or Parkinson’s disease, often the reward system of the brain is impaired, leading them to a state of diminished motivation for work or chronic fatigue.<\/p>\n

To find a way to overcome the debilitating behavioral blocks, neuroscientists are investigating the \u201canatomy\u201d of the reward system and determining how it evaluates the cost-benefit trade-off while deciding on whether to pursue a task. Recently, Dr. Yukiko Hori of National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Japan, along with her colleagues have conducted a study that has answered some of the most critical questions on benefit- and cost-based motivation of reward systems. The findings of their study have been published in PLoS Biology<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Discussing what prompted them to undertake the study, Dr. Hori explains: \u201cMental responses such as \u2018feeling more costly and being too lazy to act,\u2019 are often a problem in patients with mental disorders such as depression, and the solution lies in the better understanding of what causes such responses. We wanted to look deeper into the mechanism of motivational disturbances in the brain<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

To do so, Dr. Hori and her team focused on dopamine (DA), the \u201cneurotransmitter\u201d or the signaling molecule that plays the central role in inducing motivation and regulation of behavior based on cost-benefit analysis. The effect of DA in the brain transmits via DA receptors, or molecular anchors that bind the DA molecules and propagate the signals through the neuronal network of the brain. However, as these receptors have distinct roles in DA signal transduction, it was imperative to assess their relative impacts on DA signaling. Therefore, using macaque monkeys as models, the researchers aimed to decipher the roles of two classes of DA receptors \u2013 the D1-like receptor (D1R) and the D2-like receptor (D2R) \u2013 in developing benefit- and cost-based motivation.<\/p>\n

In their study, the researchers first trained the animals to perform \u201creward size\u201d tasks and \u201cwork\/delay tasks.\u201d These tasks allowed them to measure how perceived reward size and required effort influenced the task-performing behavior. Dr. Takafumi Minamimoto, the corresponding author of the study explains, \u201cWe systematically manipulated the D1R and D2R of these monkeys by injecting them with specific receptor-binding molecules that dampened their biological responses to DA signaling. By positron emission tomography-based imaging of the brains of the animals, the extent of bindings or blockades of the receptors was measured<\/em>.\u201d Then, under experimental conditions, they offered the monkeys the chance to perform tasks to achieve rewards and noted whether the monkeys accepted or refused to perform the tasks and how quickly they responded to the cues related to the tasks.<\/p>\n

Analysis of these data unearthed some intriguing insights into the neurobiological mechanism of the decision-making process. The researchers observed that decision-making based on perceived benefit and cost required the involvement of both D1R and D2R, in both incentivizing the motivation (the process in which the size of the rewards inspired the monkeys to perform the tasks) and in increasing delay discounting (the tendency to prefer immediate, smaller rewards over larger, but delayed rewards). It also became clear that DA transmission via D1R and D2R regulates the cost-based motivational process by distinct neurobiological processes for benefits or \u201creward availability\u201d and costs or \u201cenergy expenditure associated with the task.\u201d However, workload discounting \u2013 the process of discounting the value of the rewards based on the proportion of the effort needed \u2013 was exclusively related to D2R manipulation.<\/p>\n

Prof. Hori emphasizes, \u201cThe complementary roles of two dopamine receptor subtypes that our study revealed, in the computation of the cost-benefit trade-off to guide action will help us decipher the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders<\/em>.\u201d Their research brings the hope of a future when by manipulating the inbuilt reward system and enhancing the motivation levels, lives of many can be improved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nApril 11, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our motivation to put effort for achieving a goal is controlled by a reward system wired in the brain. However, many neuropathological conditions impair the reward system, diminishing the will to work. Recently, scientists in Japan experimentally manipulated the reward system network of monkeys and studied their behavior. They deciphered a few critical missing pieces […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1372],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-studies-4260-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78513,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78509\/revisions\/78513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}