Mapping the interconnected neural systems underlying motivation and emotion: A key step toward understanding the...

As a part of a larger Affectome Project (http://neuroqualia.org/background.php) with an overarching goal of mapping and redefining biological substrates of feelings and emotions, we explored the neural underpinnings for the functions of motivation and emotion. Historically emotion and motivation have been placed into distinct neural circuits and examined separately. We propose a novel view of significant neural convergence of emotion and motivation, in contrast to conventional neural-based frameworks emphasizing segregation. Evidence from diverse research areas in emotion and motivation was reviewed, pinpointing key neural regions of overlap. The findings support important neural sharing between emotion and motivation, suggesting that these two functions are tightly intertwined with one another in the brain. Neural overlap does not necessarily imply continuous functional overlap. Even if identical brain regions/systems are activated for motivation and emotion, this activation may involve distinct and unique patterns of connection and information flow as the network shifts functionality. This review highlights the crucial importance of further research to explicate the patterns and modes of responding of these overlapping systems.