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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Correlating Behavioral Responses to fMRI Signals from Human Prefrontal Cortex: Examining Cognitive Processes Using Task Analysis

Correlating Behavioral Responses to fMRI Signals from Human Prefrontal Cortex: Examining Cognitive Processes Using Task Analysis

Published on: June 20, 2012

Trait approach and avoidance motivation: lateralized neural activity associated with executive function.

Jeffrey M Spielberg¹, Gregory A Miller, Anna S Engels

¹Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. jspielb2@illinois.edu

|August 24, 2010

Summary

This study reveals how individual differences in approach and avoidance motivation influence brain activity in the middle frontal gyrus during executive function tasks, impacting goal-directed behavior.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Motivation Science

Background:

Goal-directed behavior requires both motivation and executive function.
The middle frontal gyrus (MFG) is implicated in the interaction between these processes.
Previous research focused on state motivation and lacked examination of functional lateralization.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how trait levels of approach and avoidance motivation impact neural processes of executive function.
To examine the functional lateralization of the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in relation to motivational traits.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
Participants completed a color-word Stroop task to assess executive control.
Trait approach and avoidance motivation were measured using questionnaires.

Main Results:

Trait approach motivation was associated with left-lateralized MFG activation.
Trait avoidance motivation was associated with right-lateralized MFG activation.
These motivational traits moderated brain activation during executive control tasks.

Conclusions:

Findings support the hypotheses regarding the lateralization of MFG activation based on motivational traits.
The middle frontal gyrus plays a role in top-down control to align behavior with motivational goals.
Individual differences in motivation have a lateralized neural basis in executive control regions.