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Updated: Oct 25, 2026

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
Published on: March 19, 2014
Hungry Minds: The Clinical Psychopathology of Motivation
1Obsessive, Compulsive, and Anxiety Spectrum Research Program. Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; D'Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract:
This paper presents an integrated framework that connects needs, drives, volition, and related constructs with contemporary neurocircuit models and their corresponding bedside assessments. Drawing on both continental psychopathology and modern neuroscience, it disentangles key phenomenological concepts and outlines how the hypothalamus, the nucleus accumbens, the prefrontal cortex, and the dorsal striatum underpin core motivational functions. These systems are then linked to psychopathological signs and symptoms such as addictions, obsessions, compulsions, avolition, and apathy. Finally, the paper discusses how innovative bedside assessment strategies-including emerging digital phenotyping methods-may help to quantify symptoms across these domains in everyday clinical practice.
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