The Cognitive Neuroscience of Behavioral Urges
From time to time the Psychology Press makes key papers available for free. This week they have opened up some papers on cognitive neuroscience. Cognitive designers will find, On The Functional Anatomy of the Urge-for-Action, of special interest.
The discussion paper provides a review of what we know about everyday urges for action such as yawning and swallowing as well as mental health challenges such as obsessiveness compulsive disorder. They find a common neural architecture for all such urges that is distinct from the brain regions that drive intentional behaviors. The article provides important background for designers and innovators working on behavior change challenges.
