Affiliation:
1. Department of Biomedical Sciences Seoul National University College of Medicine Seoul Republic of Korea
2. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology Seoul National University College of Medicine Seoul Republic of Korea
3. Neuroscience Research Institute Seoul National University College of Medicine Seoul Republic of Korea
4. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Seoul National University Seoul Republic of Korea
5. Wide River Institute of Immunology Seoul National University Gangwon‐do Republic of Korea
Abstract
AbstractTo orchestrate behaviors for survival, multiple psychological components have evolved. The current theories do not clearly distinguish the distinct components. In this article, we provide a unified theoretical framework. To optimize survival, there should be four components; (1) “need”, an alarm based on a predicted deficiency. (2) “motivation”, a direct behavior driver. (3) “pleasure”, a teacher based on immediate outcomes. (4) “utility”, a teacher based on final delayed outcomes. For behavior stability, need should be accumulated into motivation to drive behavior. Based on the immediate outcome of the behavior, the pleasure should teach whether to continue the current behavior. Based on the final delay outcome, the utility should teach whether to increase future behavior by reshaping the other three components. We provide several neural substrate candidates in the food context. The proposed theoretical framework, in combination with appropriate experiments, will unravel the neural components responsible for each theoretical component.
Funder
National Research Foundation of Korea