Motivation and emotion/Lectures/Brain and physiological needs
Lecture 03: Brain and physiological needs
This is the third lecture for the motivation and emotion unit of study.
Overview
This lecture:
- explains the role of brain structures, neurotransmitters, and hormones in regulating motivational drives
- discusses physiological needs, particularly thirst, hunger, and sexual motivation
Take-home messages:
- The brain is as much about motivation and emotion as it is about cognition and thinking
- Biological urges are underestimated motivational forces when we are not currently experiencing them
Outline
Motivated and emotional brain
- Neuroscience
- Brain structures
- Subcortical
- Reticular formation
- Amygdala
- Reward centre
- Basal ganglia
- Hypothalamus
- Cortical
- Insula
- Prefrontal cortex
- Orbitofrontal cortex
- Ventromedial PFC
- Dorsolateral PFC
- Anterior cingulate cortex
- Bidirectional
- Neurotransmitters
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
- Norepinephrine
- Endorphins
- Hormones
- Cortisol
- Oxytocin
- Testosterone
- Ghrelin (Part B)
- Leptin (Part B)
Physiological needs
- Needs
- Regulatory processes
- Example physiological needs
- Thirst
- Hunger
- Sexual motivation
3D brain model
- Learn about the location and function of key brain structures using 3d brain (brainfacts.org)
- This 3D, interactive model of the human brain shows the main structures and explains their functions.
- Task: Can you find each of the brain structures mentioned in this lecture in the 3D model?
Readings
- Chapter 03: The motivated and emotional brain (Reeve, 2018) or Chapter 03: The motivated and emotional brain (Reeve, 2024)
- Chapter 04: Physiological needs (Reeve, 2018) or Chapter 4: Biological needs (Reeve, 2024)
Slides
- Motivated and emotional brain (Google Slides)
- Physiological needs (Google Slides)
See also
- Wikiversity
- Images
- Brain structures
- Hormones
- Neurotransmitters
- Book chapters
- Brain (Category)
- Hormones (Category)
- Neurotransmitters (Category)
- Physiological needs (Category)
- Wikipedia
- Autonomic nervous system
- ERG theory
- Limbic system
- Maslow's hierarchy of needs
- Nucleus (neuroanatomy)
- Parasympathetic nervous system
- Prefrontal cortex
- Reward system
- Sympathetic nervous system
- Lectures
- Historical development and assessment skills (Previous lecture)
- Extrinsic motivation and psychological needs (Next lecture)
- Tutorials
Recording
- Lecture 03 (2025)
References
Saper, C. B., & Lowell, B. B. (2014). The hypothalamus. Current Biology, 24(23), R1111–R1116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.023
External links
- Between pleasure and pain (Dr. Anna Lembke, The Knowledge Project Ep. #159)
- Hangry (Stuff You Should Know, Podcast, 12:30 mins)
- Hormones of hunger: Leptin and ghrelin (Corporis, 2019, YouTube, 9:33 mins) - how leptin and ghrelin work together to modulate hunger
- How does my brain work? (TED Talks playlist)
- Let's talk about sex (Crash Course Psychology #27; YouTube 11:35 mins)
- Your brain is more than a bag of chemicals (David Anderson, 2013, TED talk, 16 mins) - neuroscientific research into motivation and emotion using a basic animal model (fruit fly)