How the Brain Translates Money into Force: A Neuroimaging Study of Subliminal Motivation
Open accessAbstract
Unconscious motivation in humans is often inferred but rarely demonstrated empirically. We imaged motivational processes, implemented in a paradigm that varied the amount and reportability of monetary rewards for which subjects exerted physical effort. We show that, even when subjects cannot report how much money is at stake, they nevertheless deploy more force for higher amounts. Such a motivational effect is underpinned by engagement of a specific basal forebrain region. Our findings thus reveal this region as a key node in brain circuitry that enables expected rewards to energize behavior, without the need for the subjects`awareness.
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In humans, reinforcement learning appears to proceed even when the cues, reward, or motivation signals are presented below the consciousness threshold.
“Remarkably, in humans, such learning appears to proceed even when the cues, reward, or motivation signals are presented below the consciousness threshold ( 17 , 18 ).”
From What is consciousness, and could machines have it? (2017) · cites this paper as [18]
The paper’s Abstract (page unavailable) reports that masked monetary incentives affected hand-grip force even when subjects could not report the reward at stake, supporting unconscious motivation in humans. It does not establish that reinforcement learning proceeded below the consciousness threshold; its task tested how subliminal incentives energized behavior, not whether participants learned from them. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCues indicating reward availability elicit increases in VS activity proportional to the amount of signaled reward, and these signals correlate with performance enhancement for larger compared to smaller rewards.
“Cues that indicate that a certain amount of reward is available given successful performance of an instrumental action, or even of a complex cognitive task, elicit increases in VS activity proportional to the amount of signaled reward and these signals correlate with the degree of performance enhancement found for larger compared to smaller rewards [12,13].”
From Contributions of the striatum to learning, motivation, and performance: an associative account (2012) · cites this paper as [12]
Findings implicating the ventral striatum in incentive-based performance can arguably be accounted for in terms of the role of this structure in the expression of Pavlovian conditioned responses.
“Findings implicating the ventral striatum in incentive-based performance [12,13,39,40] can arguably also be accounted for in terms of the role of this structure in the expression of Pavlovian conditioned responses.”
From Contributions of the striatum to learning, motivation, and performance: an associative account (2012) · cites this paper as [12]
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- Authors
- Pessiglione, M., Schmidt, L., Draganski, B., Kalisch, R., Lau, H., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, C. D.
- Affiliations
- Inserm (FR)
- Wellcome Trust Centre for NeuroImaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, 12 Queen Square London WC1N 3BG, UK.
- Corresponding author
- Pessiglione, Mathias
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2007-05-11
- Volume
- 316
- Issue
- 5826
- Pages
- 904-906
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC2631941
- OpenAlex
- W2003118297
- Cited by
- 634
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 54 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 44
- FWCI
- 15.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (078865)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Keywords
- unconscious motivation, monetary rewards, physical exertion, force generation, basal forebrain, reward processing, brain circuits
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Autonomic Nervous System, Basal Ganglia, Brain Mapping, Female, Galvanic Skin Response, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motivation, Reward, Subliminal Stimulation, Unconscious, Psychology, Prosencephalon, Hand Strength
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