Abstract
Simpson and Balsam overview behavioural neuroscience of motivation — how incentive value, learning, and choice link circuits to measurable behaviour.
Simpson, E. H., & Balsam, P. D. (2015). Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. DOI
Key findings
- Incentive salience — Motivation is not one drive — incentive salience tags what is worth pursuing now.
- Learning link — Reinforcement learning updates value — wanting follows prediction error, not static lists.
- Circuit map — Dopamine and related systems gate effort allocation — overview of canonical routes.
- Translational tools — Animal and human paradigms translate — open field, progressive ratio, and cousins.
Limits
Broad overview chapter — map, not one clinical protocol.
Application
When wanting and doing diverge — motivation is circuit and learning, not only discipline talk. See Behavioral change canon.