Suffer from procrastination? Your ‘motivation brake’ might be to blame.
That's according to a recent study from Kyoto University, whose experiments on macaque monkeys helped them discover a brain circuit that stops us from starting stressful tasks.
When the researchers tampered with that circuit, they found that monkeys were more willing to endure a mildly unpleasant experience for a reward.
The motivation brake involves two regions – called the ventral striatum (VS) and the ventral pallidum (VP) – which are both located deep in the brain, slightly towards the front.
The VS is involved in reward and motivation – so, if you've discovered you're out of milk, it might decide it's worth facing the rain so you don't have to eat dry cornflakes.
Then, the VS passes that information onto the VP, which can turn that motivation into action. Your shoes and coat go on, and you step out the door.
Alternatively, if the rain looks horrible and your home feels warm and cosy, the VS might judge the task a stressful one and tell the VP to keep you snug indoors.
That's what the Kyoto researchers discovered when they trained monkeys to perform two different tasks, each with a reward at the end, but one involving an unpleasant puff of air to the face.
When the scientists invited the monkeys to complete a reward-only task, most got started without hesitating. But, if they knew an air puff would head their way too, the monkeys often held back.
After that first experiment, the researchers used a technique called chemogenetics – where scientists temporarily alter specific cells with drugs or other tools – to dampen the monkeys’ motivation brakes.
With the connection between the VS and VP regions weakened, the monkeys became much more willing to begin tasks that would involve an air puff.
So, the scientists concluded, the VS-VP circuit regulates how well we can motivate ourselves to tackle difficult tasks.
They proposed that, in future, scientists might be able to develop treatments targeting motivation, which could help those with conditions such as depression, who often struggle to complete daily tasks.
But, the researchers warned, it was too risky to start tampering with people's motivation brakes right now.
“Over-weakening the motivation brake could lead to dangerous behaviour or excessive risk-taking,” said Dr Ken-ichi Amemori, associate professor of neuroscience at Kyoto University and the study’s lead author.
He added that further research and discussions about ethics would be needed, “to determine how and when such interventions should be used.”
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