Too Much Motivation Affects our Decision-Making

In a good or a bad mood, focused or distracted, in dire or no need: our internal states directly influence our perceptions and decision-making. While the role of motivation on the performance of behavioural tasks has been known for more than a century -- thanks to the work of psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dilligham Dodson -- its precise effect on the brain remains unclear.

A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the EPFL, has revealed how motivation alters the neural circuits responsible for sensory perception preceding decision-making in mice. This study reveals why a level of motivation that is too high or too low can affect our perception and therefore our choices. These results, featured in the journal Neuron, open up new perspectives in learning methods.

These results open up new perspectives. They provide a possible neural basis for the Yerkes-Dodson Law. They also reveal that the level of motivation does not only impact decision-making but also the perception of sensory information, which leads to the decision.

This unraveling of the role of motivation in learning opens the way to new adaptive methods that aim to maintain an optimal level of motivation during learning.

Source: sciencedaily.com