Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T01:39:52.193Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Beyond dopamine: The noradrenergic system and mental effort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2013

Nicholas J. Malecek
Affiliation:
Imaging Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712. malecek@utexas.edupoldrack@utexas.eduwww.poldracklab.org
Russell A. Poldrack
Affiliation:
Imaging Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712. malecek@utexas.edupoldrack@utexas.eduwww.poldracklab.org

Abstract

An opportunity cost model of effort requires flexible integration of valuation and self-control systems. Reciprocal connections between these networks and brainstem neuromodulatory systems are likely to provide the signals that affect subsequent persistence or failure when faced with effort challenges. The interaction of these systems should be taken into account to strengthen a normative neural model of effort.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Astafiev, S. V., Snyder, A. Z., Shulman, G. L. & Corbetta, M. (2010) Comment on “Modafinil shifts human locus coeruleus to low-tonic, high-phasic activity during functional MRI” and “Homeostatic sleep pressure and responses to sustained attention in the suprachiasmatic area.” Science 328(5976):309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aston-Jones, G. & Cohen, J. D. (2005) An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: Adaptive gain and optimal performance. Annual Review of Neuroscience 28:403–50.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M. & Tice, D. M. (1998) Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74(5):1252–65. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252.Google Scholar
Eldar, E., Cohen, J.D., & Niv, Y. (2013) The effects of neural gain on attention and learning. Nature Neuroscience 16: 1146–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jepma, M. & Nieuwenhuis, S. (2011) Pupil diameter predicts changes in the exploration-exploitation trade-off: Evidence for the adaptive gain theory. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23(7):1587–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kahneman, D. (1973) Attention and effort. Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D. & Beatty, J. (1966) Pupil diameter and load on memory. Science 154(3756):1583–85.Google Scholar
Kurniawan, I. T., Guitart-Masip, M. & Dolan, R. J. (2011) Dopamine and effort-based decision making. Frontiers in Neuroscience 5:81.Google Scholar
Kurzban, R. (2010a) Does the brain consume additional glucose during self-control tasks? Evolutionary Psychology 8(2):244–59.Google Scholar
Minzenberg, M. J., Watrous, A. J., Yoon, J. H., Ursu, S. & Carter, C. S. (2008) Modafinil shifts human locus coeruleus to low-tonic, high-phasic activity during functional MRI. Science 322(5908):1700–702.Google Scholar
Nassar, M. R., Rumsey, K. M., Wilson, R. C., Parikh, K., Heasly, B. & Gold, J. I. (2012) Rational regulation of learning dynamics by pupil-linked arousal systems. Nature Neuroscience 15:1040–46.Google Scholar
Navon, D. (1984) Resources – A theoretical soup stone? Psychological Review 91(2):216–34.Google Scholar
Niv, Y. (2007) Cost, benefit, tonic, phasic: What do response rates tell us about dopamine and motivation? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1104:357–76.Google Scholar
Pashler, H. (1994) Dual task interference in simple tasks: Data and theory. Psychological Bulletin 116:220–44.Google Scholar
Payzan-LeNestour, E., Dunne, S., Bossaerts, P. & O'Doherty, J.P. (2013) The neural representation of unexpected uncertainty during value-based decision making. Neuron 79(1):191201.Google Scholar
Raizada, R. D. S. & Poldrack, R. A. (2007) Challenge-driven attention: Interacting frontal and brainstem systems. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 1:3.Google Scholar
Robbins, T. W. & Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009) The neuropsychopharmacology of fronto-executive function: Monoaminergic modulation. Annual Review of Neuroscience 32(1):267–87.Google Scholar
Sara, S. J. & Bouret, S. (2012) Orienting and reorienting: The locus coeruleus mediates cognition through arousal. Neuron 76(1):130–41.Google Scholar
Wickens, C. D. (1984) Processing resources in attention. In: Varieties of attention, ed. Parasuraman, R. & Davies, D. R., pp. 63102. Academic Press.Google Scholar
Yu, A. J. & Dayan, P. (2005) Uncertainty, neuromodulation, and attention. Neuron 46(4):681–92.Google Scholar