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Methods for Dissecting Motivation and Related Psychological Processes in Rodents

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Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 27))

Abstract

Motivational impairments are increasingly recognized as being critical to functional deficits and decreased quality of life in patients diagnosed with psychiatric disease. Accordingly, much preclinical research has focused on identifying psychological and neurobiological processes which underlie motivation . Inferring motivation from changes in overt behavioural responding in animal models, however, is complicated, and care must be taken to ensure that the observed change is accurately characterized as a change in motivation , and not due to some other, task-related process. This chapter discusses current methods for assessing motivation and related psychological processes in rodents. Using an example from work characterizing the motivational impairments in an animal model of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, we highlight the importance of careful and rigorous experimental dissection of motivation and the related psychological processes when characterizing motivational deficits in rodent models . We suggest that such work is critical to the successful translation of preclinical findings to therapeutic benefits for patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Ryan D. Ward

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  1. Ryan D. Ward
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Correspondence to Ryan D. Ward .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA

    Eleanor H. Simpson

  2. Barnard College, Columbia University Barnard College, New York, New York, USA

    Peter D. Balsam

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Ward, R.D. (2015). Methods for Dissecting Motivation and Related Psychological Processes in Rodents. In: Simpson, E., Balsam, P. (eds) Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 27. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2015_380

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