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J Neurophysiol (November 5, 2008). doi:10.1152/jn.90959.2008
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Submitted on August 24, 2008
Revised on November 2, 2008
Accepted on November 3, 2008

Measuring and modeling the interaction among reward size, delay to reward and satiation level on motivation in monkeys

Takafumi Minamimoto1, Giancarlo La Camera1, and Barry J. Richmond1*

1 NIMH

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bjr{at}ln.nimh.nih.gov.

Motivation is usually inferred from the likelihood or the intensity with which behavior is carried out. It is sensitive to external factors (e.g., the identity, amount and timing of a rewarding outcome) and internal factors (e.g., hunger or thirst). We trained macaque monkeys to perform a non-choice instrumental task (a sequential red-green color discrimination) while manipulating two external factors, reward size and delay-to-reward. We also inferred the state of one internal factor, level of satiation, by monitoring the accumulated reward. A visual cue indicated the forthcoming reward size and delay-to-reward in each trial. The fraction of trials completed correctly by the monkeys increased linearly with reward size and was hyperbolically discounted by delay-to-reward duration, relations that are similar to those found in free operant and choice tasks. The fraction of correct trials also decreased progressively as a function of the satiation level. Similar (albeit more noisy) relations were obtained for reaction times. The combined effect of reward size, delay-to-reward, and satiation level on the proportion of correct trials is well described as a multiplication of the effects of the single factors when each factor is examined alone. These results provide a quantitative account of the interaction of external and internal factors on instrumental behavior, and allow us to extend the concept of 'subjective value' of a rewarding outcome, usually confined to external factors, to account also for slow changes in the internal drive of the subject.







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