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Aversive motivation and cognitive control
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Aversive motivation and cognitive control

Debbie M. Yee, Xiamin Leng, Amitai Shenhav and Todd S. Braver
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, Vol.133, 104493
02/01/2022
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.016
PMID: 34910931

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Abstract

•Motivational context clarifies aversive incentive effects on cognitive control.•Mixed motivation (bundled incentives) is key to measure aversive motivational value.•Dopamine and serotonin modulate motivational context in aversive neural circuit.•Lateral habenula and dorsal ACC encode aversive values to guide cognitive control.•Negative reinforcement and punishment linked to distinct computational mechanisms. Aversive motivation plays a prominent role in driving individuals to exert cognitive control. However, the complexity of behavioral responses attributed to aversive incentives creates significant challenges for developing a clear understanding of the neural mechanisms of this motivation-control interaction. We review the animal learning, systems neuroscience, and computational literatures to highlight the importance of experimental paradigms that incorporate both motivational context manipulations and mixed motivational components (e.g., bundling of appetitive and aversive incentives). Specifically, we postulate that to understand aversive incentive effects on cognitive control allocation, a critical contextual factor is whether such incentives are associated with negative reinforcement or punishment. We further illustrate how the inclusion of mixed motivational components in experimental paradigms enables increased precision in the measurement of aversive influences on cognitive control. A sharpened experimental and theoretical focus regarding the manipulation and assessment of distinct motivational dimensions promises to advance understanding of the neural, monoaminergic, and computational mechanisms that underlie the interaction of motivation and cognitive control.
Aversive motivation Cognitive control Habenula Mixed motivation Negative reinforcement Punishment Serotonin

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