Motivation and emotion/Book/2022/Nucleus accumbens and motivation

Overview

 * Nucleus accumbens.svg Nucleus Accumbens is considered to be the neural meeting point between motivation and action
 * The Nucleus Accumbens (NA) is located in the Basal Forebrain, and is a major component of the Ventral Striatum. It sits between the Caudate and Putamen.
 * The Nucleus Accumbens is divided into two components - the outer shell and the inner core.
 * Best known for being part of the reward Centre.

Focus questions:
 * What is the first focus question?
 * What is the second focus question?
 * What is the third focus question?

Why is the NA important?

 * The NA plays a pivotal role in motivation, given

The reward system and Dopamine

 * The NA responds to signals of reward (via the release of Dopamine) to produce pleasure, wanting, liking and approach.
 * Dopamine is released by the Ventral Tegmental Area, via the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, to the NA, and ends in the basal ganglia.
 * Once the Ventral Striatum is activated via the release of Dopamine, it translates the experience of reward into motivational force, approach behaviour, and the exertion of physical effort

Theories of relevance

 * Current theories on dopaminergic function include
 * Self determination Theory
 * Temporal Motivation Theory
 * James-Lange Theory

Attainment and pursuit of reward

 * The prefrontal cortex a conscious experience of pleasure, and in the orbitofrontal cortex stores the learned reward value, to code memory of particular environmental stimuli.
 * The anticipation of a reward releases dopamine


 * The NA is involved in the pursuit of reward, and aversion of punishing stimuli

Addiction

 * The pleasure Cycle - Typical vs Muted
 * Rat Park Studies
 * Rat Paradise studies

Psychotherapy
Blunt dopamine receptors

Mood state

Learning features
What brings an online book chapter to life are its interactive learning features. Case studies, feature boxes, figures, links, tables, and quiz questions can be used throughout the chapter.

Case studies
Here is where I will provide some of the information from the various cocaine experiments from rat parks. I will attempt to do this in feature boxes.

Boxes



 * Feature box example
 * Shaded background
 * Coloured border

Figures
Use figures to illustrate concepts, add interest, and provide examples. Figures can be used to show photographs, drawings, diagrams, graphs, etcetera. Figures can be embedded throughout the chapter, starting with the Overview section. Figures should be captioned (using a number and a description) in order to explain their relevance to the text. Possible images can be found at Wikimedia Commons. Images can also be uploaded if they are licensed for re-use or if you created the image. Each figure should be referred to at least once in the main text (e.g., see Figure 1).

Links
Where key words are first used, make them into interwiki links such as Wikipedia links to articles about famous people (e.g., Sigmund Freud and key concepts (e.g., dreams) and links to book chapters about related topics (e.g., would you like to learn about how to overcome writer's block?).

Tables
Tables can be an effective way to organise and summarise information. Tables should be captioned (using APA style) to explain their relevance to the text. Plus each table should be referred to at least once in the main text (e.g., see Table 1 and Table 2).

Here are some example 3 x 3 tables which could be adapted.

Quizzes
Quizzes are a direct way to engage readers. But don't make quizzes too hard or long. It is better to have one or two review questions per major section than a long quiz at the end. Try to quiz conceptual understanding, rather than trivia.

Here are some simple quiz questions which could be adapted. Choose the correct answers and click "Submit": {Quizzes are an interactive learning feature: + True - False
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{Long quizzes are a good idea: - True + False
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To learn about different types of quiz questions, see Quiz.

Conclusion
The Conclusion is arguably the most important section. It should be possible for someone to read the Overview and the Conclusion and still get a good idea of the topic.