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motivation and emotion: biological bases in Biological Psychology

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Motivation (se e s. 6) and e motion (se e s. 6) are two ke y conce pts in psychology; re late d but distinguishable .

(Se e also s. 1, e motion and motivation) Se tting aside obse rvable or e xpe rime nte r-controlle d stimuli, and

obse rve d re sponse s, both te rms are use d to re fe r to inte rnal state s or conditions with important

psychological functions. Both have activational or arousal aspe cts (from quie sce nce to e xcite me nt); both

have positive or ne gative aspe cts (e .g. approach-avoidance (se e s. 7); ple asure -fe ar); both have

diffe re ntiate d and distinguishable type s of compone nts (e .g. hunge r or thirst; happine ss or ange r); both are

goal-dire cte d and adaptive (e .g. approach food whe n hungry; pre parations for flight whe n attacke d); both

fluctuate in inte nsity ove r time , de pe nding upon e nvironme ntal factors (se e s. 8), past history, inte rnal stimuli

(e .g. hormone s), de privation and ne e d, circadian pe riodicity, and so on. Disorde rs of e motion and mood (e .g.

de pre ssion –se e s. 7 and anxie ty – se e s. 6) can be close ly associate d with loss of motivation or a

he ighte ne d se nsitivity to fe ar-inducing stimuli (Mook 1996; T oate s 2001). How are the y to be distinguishe d?

One could argue that e motions are subje ctive ly e xpe rie nce d and e xpre sse d. Howe ve r, the re are many data

which argue for non-conscious proce ssing of e motions, with common fe ature s share d be twe e n human

be ings and othe r animals (Le Doux 1996). Motivation implie s an activational compone nt toge the r with a

purpose or goal-dire cte dne ss, which is not ne ce ssarily accompanie d by spe cific e motional arousal. Emotion

implie s a wide spre ad but inte grate d se t of re sponse s, including physiological, be havioural and e ndocrine

re sponse s, which re fle ct e xpe rie nce to a gre ate r de gre e than inte ntion. T oge the r, the se psychological

conce pts can be brought toge the r in a unifie d biological approach, calle d affe ctive ne uroscie nce (Pankse pp

1998; Rolls 1999).

Within the fie ld of motivation, the drive conce pt prove d influe ntial, re fe rring to a ge ne ralise d activational

compone nt and to more spe cific, goal-dire cte d be havioural re sponse s (Pfaff 1999). Also historically influe ntial

has be e n the conce pt of home ostasis, introduce d by the twe ntie th-ce ntury physiologist, Walte r Cannon. T his

capture s the many me chanisms available , both be havioural and physiological, to maintain ke y bodily

variable s (se e s. 8) within ce rtain limits, critical for survival (Sape r e t al. 2002). T he link be twe e n the two ide as

is that in re sponse to home ostatic ne e d, a drive might be e ngage d to motivate be haviour in ways to alle viate

the ne e d. Conscious aware ne ss of motivational state s was not a ne ce ssary fe ature of such sche me s, and

the fie ld be came he avily re liant on non-human animal e xpe rime ntation.

T he hypothalamus, a small structure situate d in the ve ntral die nce phalon, be came the ne uroanatomical

focus for motivational studie s. Ste llar’s (1954 ) the ory (se e s. 8) of ‘T he physiology of motivation’ prove d

highly influe ntial, postulating inde pe nde nt (se e s. 8) e xcitatory and inhibitory controls of motivational state s,

associate d with distinct nucle i within the hypothalamus. So, too, was the discove ry by Olds and Milne r (1954 )

of the powe rful re warding e ffe cts of e le ctrical stimulation of the brain in awake animals. T he brain’s re ward

syste m focuse d strongly on the hypothalamus. T his hypothalamoce ntric vie w of re ward and motivation he ld

sway for de cade s, ge ne rating conside rable re se arch, and e mphasising subcortical me chanisms common to

pe ople , primate s or rode nts. Inte re st move d from an initial pre occupation with ne uroanatomical localisation

to major inte re st in ne urotransmitte rs involve d in re ward and motivation (Mook 1996; T oate s 2001). T his le d

to a re focusing on othe r structure s inne rvate d by ne urotransmitte rs such as dopamine or se rotonin (5-

hydroxytryptamine ).

Dopamine , in particular, as a monoamine ne urotransmitte r, has attracte d a gre at de al of scrutiny. Be ginning

with e vide nce that dopamine may be involve d importantly in re ward me chanisms, it has more re ce ntly be e n

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implicate d in ince ntive motivation (Be rridge and Robinson 1998) and drug addiction (Robinson and Be rridge

2003; Wise 1996). Dopamine inne rvation of the nucle us accumbe ns (ve ntral striatum) has be e n much

e mphasise d [se e nucle us accumbe ns dopamine and be haviour].

Darwin is cre dite d with e stablishing the ‘e xpre ssion of e motions’ as a se rious topic for study in human be ings

as we ll as othe r animals. Early in the twe ntie th ce ntury, the ne uroanatomist Jame s Pape z postulate d an

‘e motional circuit’ in the brain; this ide a was e xte nde d by MacLe an, who introduce d the te rm limbic syste m to

de scribe an e xte nde d, and phyloge ne tically old, syste m of structure s in the brain subse rving e motions

(Le Doux 1996). In re ce nt ye ars, the re has be e n a conside rable re surge nce of inte re st in the study of

e motions. On the one hand, animal studie s have implicate d the amygdala and re late d structure s in fe ar-

conditioning, and the brainste m in ple asure or he donic e valuation. On the othe r, human brain-imaging

studie s (fMRI, PET ) have le d to fre sh unde rstanding of the se parable ne uroanatomical basis for human

e motions such as fe ar or disgust (Critchle y 2003). Emotions are firmly back on the re se arch age nda, and

one e xpe cts to se e close r tie s be twe e n human studie s and those de rive d from othe r animals.

Be rridge , K. C. and Robinson, T . E. 1998: What is the role of dopamine in re ward: he donic impact, re ward

le arning, or ince ntive salie nce ? Brain Re se arch Re vie ws 28, 309-69.

Critchle y, H. 2003: Emotion and its disorde rs. British Me dical Bulle tin 65, 35-4 7.

Le Doux, J. 1996: T he Emotional Brain: T he Myste rious Unde rpinnings of Emotional Life . Ne w York: Simon

and Schuste r.

Mook, D. G. 1996: Motivation: T he Organization of Action (2nd e dn). Ne w York: Norton.

Olds, J. and Milne r, P. 1954 : Positive re inforce me nt produce d by e le ctrical stimulation of se ptal are a and

othe r re gions of rat brain. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 4 7, 4 19-27.

Pankse pp, J. 1998: Affe ctive Ne uroscie nce : T he Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. Ne w York:

Oxford Unive rsity Pre ss.

Pfaff, D. W. 1999: Drive : Ne urobiological and Mole cular Me chanisms of Se xual Motivation. Cambridge , MA:

MIT Pre ss.

Robinson, T . E. and Be rridge , K. C. 2003: Addiction. Annual Re vie w of Psychology 54 , 25-53.

Rolls, E. T . 1999: T he Brain and Emotion. Oxford: Oxford Unive rsity Pre ss.

Sape r, C. B., Chou, T . C. and Elmquist, J. K. 2002: T he ne e d to fe e d: home ostatic and he donic control of

e ating. Ne uron 36, 199-211.

Ste llar, E. 1954 : T he physiology of motivation. Psychological Re vie w 61, 5-22.

T oate s, F. 2001: Biological Psychology: An Inte grative Approach. Harlow: Pre ntice Hall.

Wise , R. A. 1996: Ne urobiology of addiction. Curre nt Opinion in Ne urobiology 6, 24 3-51.

Profe ssor Ste ve n J. Coope r

Unive rsity of Live rpool, UK

© 2006 Hodder Arnold

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APA Coope r, S. J. (2006). motivation and e motion: biological base s. In G. Dave y, Encyclopaedic dictionary of

psychology. London, UK: Routle dge . Re trie ve d from https://lope s.idm.oclc.org/login?

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Chicago Coope r, Ste ve n J. "motivation and e motion: biological base s." In Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Psychology, by

Graham Dave y. Routle dge , 2006. https://lope s.idm.oclc.org/login?

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Harvard Coope r, S.J. (2006). motivation and e motion: biological base s. In G. Dave y, Encyclopaedic dictionary of

psychology. [Online ]. London: Routle dge . Available from: https://lope s.idm.oclc.org/login?

url=http://se arch.cre dore fe re nce .com/conte nt/e ntry/hodde rdpsyc/motivation_and_e motion_biological_base s/0?

institutionId=5865 [Acce sse d 5 Octobe r 2017].

MLA Coope r, Ste ve n J. "motivation and e motion: biological base s." Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Psychology,

Graham Dave y, Routle dge , 1st e dition, 2006. Credo Reference, https://lope s.idm.oclc.org/login?

url=http://se arch.cre dore fe re nce .com/conte nt/e ntry/hodde rdpsyc/motivation_and_e motion_biological_base s/0?

institutionId=5865. Acce sse d 05 Oct 2017.

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