A framework for mental fatigue is proposed, that involves an integrated evaluation of both expected rewards and energetical costs associated with continued performance. Adequate evaluation of predicted rewards and potential risks of actions is essential for successful adaptive behaviour. However, while both rewards and punishments can motivate to engage in activities, both types of motivated behaviour are associated with energetical costs. We will review findings that suggest that the nucleus accumbens, orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, insula and anterior cingulate cortex are involved evaluating both the potential rewards associated with performing a task, as well as assessing the energetical demands involved in task performance. Behaviour will only proceed if this evaluation turns out favourably towards spending (additional) energy. We propose that this evaluation of predicted rewards and energetical costs is central to the phenomenon of mental fatigue: people will no longer be motivated to engage in task performance when energetical costs are perceived to outweigh predicted rewards.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Despite evidence that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity is related to social exclusion, rejection and unfairness, evidence that medial frontal negativity (MFN), which has its source in the ACC, reflects these constructs remains unforthcoming. In the present study, subjects participated as recipients in an ultimatum game, while we recorded their electro-encephalogram (EEG). Participants responded to fair and unfair offers from different human proposers. In addition, participants rated themselves on a measure evaluating their concern for fairness. Results showed that MFN amplitude was more pronounced for unfair offers compared to fair offers. Moreover, this effect was shown to be most pronounced for subjects with high concerns for fairness. Our findings suggest that the MFN not only reflects whether outcomes match expectations, but also reflects whether the process by which these outcomes came about matches a social or even a moral norm. In addition, the present results suggest that people in bargaining situations are not only concerned with their own outcomes, but are also concerned with the fairness of the process that resulted in these outcomes.

The authors wish to thank Nigel Pouw for his help with data collection, and we gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM). 2 Brain responses to movie-trailers predict individual preferences for movies and their population-wide commercial success ABSTRACTAlthough much progress has been made in relating brain activations to choice behaviour, evidence that neural measures could actually be useful for predicting the successfulness of marketing actions remains limited. To be of added value, neural measures should significantly increase predictive power, above and beyond conventional measures. In the present study, the authors obtained both stated preference measures and neural measures (electroencephalography; EEG) in response to advertisements for commercially released movies (i.e. movie-trailers), to probe its potential to provide insight into individual preferences in our subjects, as well as movie sales in the population at large.The results show that EEG measures (beta and gamma oscillations) provide unique information regarding individual and population-wide preference, above and beyond stated preference measures, and can thus in principle be used as a neural marker for commercial success. As such, these results provide the first evidence that EEG measures are related to real-world outcomes, and that these neural measures can significantly add to models predicting choice behaviour compared to models that include only stated preference measures.

Although the focus of the discussion regarding the significance of the error related negatively (ERN/Ne) has been on the cognitive factors reflected in this component, there is now a growing body of research that describes influences of motivation, affective style and other factors of personality on ERN/Ne amplitude. The present study was conducted to further evaluate the relationship between affective style, error related ERP components and their neural basis. Therefore, we had our subjects fill out the Behavioral Activation System/Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS/BAS) scales, which are based on Gray's (1987, 1989) biopsychological theory of personality. We found that subjects scoring high on the BIS scale displayed larger ERN/Ne amplitudes, while subjects scoring high on the BAS scale displayed larger error positivity (Pe) amplitudes. No correlations were found between BIS and Pe amplitude or between BAS and ERN/Ne amplitude. Results are discussed in terms of individual differences in reward and punishment sensitivity that are reflected in error related ERP components.