Assess Your Mood and Brain Activity by an Equation

Your mood and brain activity can be assessed by a simple mathematical equation that helps uncover your preferences as per a study “A Neurocomputational Model for Intrinsic Reward” by the Society For Neuroscience, published in JNeurosci. It is quite difficult to assess certain social pressure to enjoy, such as waking up early for a yoga class. However, the present study uncovers the prediction of one's mood depending on their brain activity in reward regions.

The study team measured participants’ moods with repeated questions and simultaneously giving them two types of rewards. The fMRI was used to measure their brain activity.

Based on this, the team developed a mathematical equation to determine the effects of rewards contributed to the participants’ mood in a particular moment. It was found that most people felt happier after earning more points or completing the game.

However, the contribution of both the rewards to happiness varied from person to person. It was also found that people who had their happiness driven by intrinsic rewards showed more activity in their ventromedial prefrontal cortex (a reward area) when compared to extrinsic rewards.

Hence, the study provides a potential avenue to assess one’s preferences by just sketching out a simple equation.

Source-Medindia