Humans and other animals are motivated to act so as to maximize their subjective reward rate. Here, we propose that reward rate maximization is accomplished by adjusting a context-dependent "urgency signal," which influences both the commitment to a developing action choice and the vigor with which the ensuing action is performed. We review behavioral and neurophysiological data suggesting that urgency is controlled by projections from the basal ganglia to cerebral cortical regions, influencing neural activity related to decision making as well as activity related to action execution. We also review evidence suggesting that different individuals possess specific policies for adjusting their urgency signal to particular contextual variables, such that urgency constitutes an individual trait which jointly influences a wide range of behavioral measures commonly related to the overall quality and hastiness of one's decisions and actions. Consequently, we argue that a central mechanism for reward rate maximization provides a potential link between personality traits such as impulsivity, as well as some of the motivation-related symptomology of clinical disorders such as depression and Parkinson's disease.

中文翻译：

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急于决定并采取行动：对脑功能和功能障碍的影响。

激励人类和其他动物采取行动，以使他们的主观奖励率最大化。在这里，我们建议通过调整上下文相关的“紧急信号”来实现报酬率最大化，这既影响了对发展行动选择的承诺，也影响了随之而来的行动的执行力。我们审查的行为和神经生理学数据表明，尿急由基底神经节到大脑皮层区域的投射控制，影响与决策相关的神经活动以及与动作执行相关的活动。我们还会审查证据，表明不同的个人拥有针对特定情境变量调整其紧急信号的特定政策，这样，紧迫感就构成了个人特质，共同影响着广泛的行为措施，这些行为措施通常与一个人的决定和行动的整体素质和仓促性有关。因此，我们认为奖励率最大化的中心机制提供了诸如冲动之类的人格特质与诸如抑郁症和帕金森氏病之类的与临床动机相关的症状之间的潜在联系。