Interactions of motivation and cognitive control

Debbie M Yee, Todd S Braver
2018 Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences  
There is general agreement that both motivation and cognitive control play critical roles in shaping goal-directed behavior, but only recently has scientific interest focused around the question of motivation-control interactions. Here we briefly survey this literature, organizing contemporary findings around three issues: 1) whether motivation preferentially impacts cognitive control processes, 2) the neural mechanisms that underlie motivation-cognition interactions, and 3) why motivation
more » ... be relevant for overcoming the costs of control. Dopamine (DA) is discussed as a key neuromodulator in these motivation-cognition interactions. We conclude by highlighting open issues, specifically Pavlovian versus instrumental control distinctions and effects of motivational valence and conflict, which could benefit from future research attention.
doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.11.009 pmid:30035206 pmcid:PMC6051692 fatcat:n7tjecq3mbdudanmv6vexaobzu