The document discusses the motivated and emotional brain. It describes three key parts of the brain: 1. The motivated brain, which determines whether you want to do a task. The hypothalamus is involved in creating hunger through ghrelin release when deprived of food. 2. The emotional brain, which determines your mood while doing a task. Good events activate dopamine release stimulating positive affect. 3. Three principles: the thinking brain determines the task, the motivated brain whether you want to do it, and the emotional brain your mood while doing it. Key brain structures involved in motivation and emotion are described.

1. The Motivated and
Emotional Br ain
Chapter 3

2. THE MOTIVATED AND EMOTIONAL BRAIN
Why is the Brain Important?
Thinking Brain
Brain Cognitive and Intellectual Functions
“What task it is doing”
Motivated Brain
“Whether you want to do it”
Emotional Brain
“What your mood is while doing it”

3. The Motivated And Emotional
Br ain
Three Principles

4. The Motivated Brain
Food Deprivation Activates the Ghrelin Release that Stimulates
the Hypothalamus to Create Hunger
Figure 3.2

5. The Emotional Brain
Good Event Activates The Dopamine Release That
Stimulates Positive Affect

6. Look Inside The Brain
Two Ways of Looking inside the Brain
• Surgeon’s View
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Figure 3.5
Cross Section of the Brain Showing
the Anatomic Position of the Key
Brain Structures Involved in
Motivation and Emotion

7. Motivational and Emotional States
Associated with
Approach-Oriented Brain Structure
Br ain Associated Motivational or Emotional
Structure Experience
Hypothalamus Pleasurable feelings associated with feeding, drinking, mating
Medial forebr ain
bundle Pleasure, reinforcement
Orbitofrontal cor te x Learning the incentive value of events, making choices
Sep tal area Pleasure center associated with sociability, sexuality
Nucleus accumbens Pleasurable experience of reward, hotspot for liking
Anterior cingulate
corte x Mood, volition, making choices
Cerebr al corte x
(Frontal lobes) Making plans, setting goals, formulating intentions
Lef t prefrontal
cerebr al corte x Approach motivational and emotional tendencies
Medial prefrontal Learning response-outcome contingencies that underlie
cerebr al corte x perceived control beliefs and mastery motivation

8. Hypothalamus
 Comprises less than 1% of the total volume of the brain
 “motivational giant”
 Stimulation generates wants for, and the pleasures associated
with, water, food, and sexual partners
 Regulates the endocrine and automatic nervous system
 Therefore it is able to regulate the body’s internal environment
so to adapt optimally to the external environment
 Ex. Internal (heart rate, hormone secretion) to cope with an External
stressor

9. Medial Forebrain Bundle
 “Pleasure Center”
 Stimulation creates pleasure and leads
animals to act as if they have just received (+)
reinforcement
 In humans, stimulation produces general
positive feelings

10. Orbitofrontal Cortex
 Processes incentive-related information
 Helps people make choices between options
 For example- which product to buy or what to
drink

11. Septo-Hippocampal Circuit
 Forecasts the emotion associated with
upcoming events in terms of both anticipated
pleasure and anticipated anxiety
 Nucleus Accumbens- plays a critical role in
the experience of pleasure form naturally
occurring reinforces (good food, social
acceptance)
 Includes Hippocampus (Avoidance-oriented)

12. Anterior Cingulate Cortex
 Involved in the control of day-to-day mood,
volition, and choices
 Decreased activity is associated with sadness
and depression
 Important to the mental activity underlying
the act of “making a choice”

13. Medial Prefrontal Cortex
 Central role in the learning of response-
outcome contingencies
 “When I study, I make good grades”
 Important to goal-directed, outcome seeking
action

14. Left Prefrontal Cortex
 Prefrontal Cortex houses a person’s concious
goals
 Goals routinely compete against one another
(goal to eat vs. goal to lose weight)
 Positive approach oriented feelings
 Personality differences (more sensitive left vs.
right prefrontal lobe)

15. Motivational and Emotional States
Associated with
Avoidance-Oriented Brain Structure
Brain Structure Associated Motivational or Emotional
Experience
Right
prefrontal Withdraw motivational and emotional tendencies
cerebr al cor tex
Detecting and responding to threat and danger
Amygdala
(e.g., via fear, anger, and anxiety)
Hippocampus Behavior inhibition system during unexpected events
Table 3.1 Motivational and Emotional States Associated with Specific Brain Structure

16. Right Prefrontal Cortex
 Negative and avoidance oriented feelings
 Negative emotionality
 Related to a personality oriented toward
anxiety and avoidance orientations

17. Amygdala
 Detects and responds to threatening and
emotionally significant events
 Regulates the emotions involved in self-
preservation (fear, anger, anxiety)
 Each nuclei serves a different function
 Emotional anger
 Fear and defensive behavior

18. Hippocampus
 Operates as a “comparator” that instantly
compares incoming sensory information with
expected events (from memory)
 If events do not unfold as expected the
hippocampus acts in “not okay” mode
 Activates septo-hippocampal circuit
 Generates an anxiety-ridden motivational state
that takes control over behavior

19. Arousal
Motivational and Emotional States Associated with
Arousal-Oriented Brain Structure
Brain Structure Associated Motivational or Emotional Experience
Alert/aroused cortex processes
information, makes a decision, and
Reticular formation Arousal
responds appropriately
Figure 3.6
Anatomy (a) and Function (b) of the Reticular Formation

20. NEUROTRANSMITTER PATHWAYS IN
THE BRAIN
 Neurotransmitter Pathway
: A cluster of neurons that communicate with other neurons
by using one particular neurotransmitter
 Four Motivationally Relevant Neurotransmitter Pathways
1. Dopamine
2. Serotonin
3. Norepinephrine
4. Endorphin

21. Dopamine

22. Dopamine

23. Hormones In The Body
Essential Hormones underlying Motivation, Emotion, and Behavior

24. The World In Which Brain Lives