Great advances in science often start from prejudice…on notions that are only the opposite of the prevailing superstitious nonsense of the day - Paul de Kruif, Microbe Hunters (1926)
Unexpected insights are…a success of character, emotional stability, unflagging ambition, and unremitting work—what a bore such constancy must be. -Robert Musil, The Man Without Qualities (1930)
There is a long way to go before we can speak of understanding the principles of behavior to the degree that we understand the principles of chemical reactions -Donald Hebb, The Organization of Behavior (1949)
Behavioral devaluation is caused by dopamine receptor desensitization, explaining aspects of addiction. (webpage) (Miner; Nature Neuro 2025)
Motivation doesn’t amplify inputs, it allows them to build towards a decision. (webpage) (Gautham; Nature 2024)
Eruptions are like action potentials for networks. (webpage) (Thornquist, Pitsch; Molecular Cell 2021)
Motivation biases outcomes of all-to-all competition between behaviors. (Thornquist; bioRxiv)
In juveniles, mating circuitry is functional but motivation is suppressed. (webpage) (Zhang; Science Advances 2021)
Time itself is used to organize behavior over minutes. CaMKII is the first interval timer. (webpage) (Thornquist; Neuron 2020)
Why prior motivation is required for enduring satiety. (webpage) (Zhang; Current Biology 2019)
Motivational signals bias chance neuronal events to promote behavior. (webpage) (Zhang; Neuron 2018)
A dopaminergic motivational cue transforms perception into conception. (webpage) (Zhang; Neuron 2016)
Sexual behaviors in the fly are under motivational control. (webpage) (Crickmore; Cell 2013)