UC Irvine

Reward-predictive cues acquire a powerful influence that promotes exploratory reward-seeking behavior. Other cognitive information such as the timing and probability of an expected reward are used to flexibly regulate this motivational response, improving the efficiency of reward pursuit and retrieval. The capacity for top-down control is thought to contribute to the maladaptive and impulsive reward seeking seen in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders, including drug addiction. Elucidating the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms underlying impulsivity is crucial for developing newer, more effective prevention and treatment strategies across a wide range of psychiatric disorders. While the specific mechanisms underlying this dysregulation are unclear, it is believed to involve persistent adaptations in neural systems that mediate and regulate the expression of Pavlovian incentive motivation.