A special impulse in the brain makes you give up pleasure for the sake of benefit

The fundamental theory of learning has long relied on reinforcement algorithms, which are common to both humans and computers. However, psychology professor James F. Cavanagh from the University of New Mexico, along with his colleague Clay B. Holroyd, discovered a serious inaccuracy in terminology that many authors of previous projects had admitted. For years, experts have confused the concepts of “reward” and “goal”, considering them synonymous, although in fact they are completely different mechanisms controlled by different parts of the nervous system.

Imagine a simple situation: you really want a sugary soda, because sugar is a quick reward and a surge of dopamine. But you decide to take water because you strive to be healthy and keep an eye on your figure. At this point, the brain works not just as a recipient of pleasure, but as a controller, marking completed items on the task list. This is how a higher-order system connects our global intentions with our immediate desires.

The clinical significance of this discovery is enormous, especially in the context of the fight against anhedonia, a condition in which a person loses the ability to enjoy life and experience pleasure. In patients with depressive disorders, the signal described above is noticeably weaker, although the reasons for this attenuation are not fully understood. Now, doctors have a new motivation to study this phenomenon more deeply in order to understand the nature of mental illnesses.

The prospects of using the found marker look promising for pharmaceuticals and therapeutics. Instead of relying solely on the subjective complaints of patients, doctors will be able to measure objective indicators of neural health using simple tests. The assessment of electrical activity can become a reliable indicator of whether the chosen medicine will work, which will significantly increase the effectiveness of treatment and save time on drug selection.