Relationship of Behavioral Activation to Time-Varying Sub-Network Coherence in Attention and Reward Neural Networks

Behavioral drive, or activation, which includes cognitive effort and motivation is critical for accomplishing day-to-day tasks. Yet the brain network dynamics supporting behavioral drive are incompletely understood. Here, we investigate intra-network coherence in attention and reward networks during a modified effort expenditure for reward task. We relate time-varying patterns in intra-network coherence to individuals' self-reported behavioral drive. More time spent in a highly coherent attention network state, as well as lower switching rates between sub-networks, were associated with higher drive. These findings suggest that intra- and inter-network dynamics in associative brain networks may play a role in individual drive and may be a promising target for future research and the eventual development of treatment interventions in disorders affecting behavioral drive.