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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

Published on: July 19, 2017

Modulation of working memory function by motivation through loss-aversion.

Daniel C Krawczyk¹, Mark D'Esposito

¹Center for BrainHealth, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75235, USA. daniel.krawczyk@utdallas.edu

Human Brain Mapping

|November 25, 2011

Summary

Monetary punishment motivates better working memory performance. Brain imaging reveals enhanced neural activity and connectivity in response to potential financial loss, improving cognitive function.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Decision Science

Background:

Motivation significantly impacts cognitive performance, yet neural mechanisms linking monetary incentives to working memory remain underexplored.
Previous research indicates motivation influences cognitive tasks, but specific effects of potential monetary punishment on working memory are less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural mechanisms by which potential monetary punishment influences working memory.
To examine how loss-threatening incentives affect cognitive control demands and brain activity during a working memory task.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used during a delayed recognition task.
Monetary incentives, in the form of potential bonus money loss, were introduced to specific trials.
Behavioral performance and brain activation patterns, including functional connectivity, were analyzed.

Main Results:

Behavioral performance improved, with faster and more accurate responses under loss-threatening incentives.
Enhanced neural activity was observed in prefrontal and visual association cortex for relevant stimuli, further amplified by monetary loss incentives.
Increased amygdala and striatum activation occurred during incentive cues, alongside greater delay period connectivity between the insula, prefrontal cortex, and monetary consequence regions.

Conclusions:

Incentive motivation, particularly potential monetary loss, modulates working memory performance.
Top-down signals amplify neural activity in prefrontal and visual association regions, enhancing the processing of stimuli to be remembered.
The findings elucidate the neural pathways through which financial incentives impact cognitive control and working memory.