title: Regional gray matter density is associated with achievement motivation: evidence from voxel-based morphometry.
abstract: Achievement motivation can be defined as a recurrent need to improve one's past performance. Despite previous functional imaging studies on motivation-related functional activation, the relationship between regional gray matter (rGM) morphology and achievement motivation has never been investigated. We used voxel-based morphometry and a questionnaire (achievement motivation scale) to measure individual achievement motivation and investigated the association between rGM density (rGMD) and achievement motivation [self-fulfillment achievement motivation (SFAM) and competitive achievement motivation (CAM) across the brain in healthy young adults (age 21.0 ± 1.8 years, men (n = 94), women (n = 91)]. SFAM and rGMD significantly and negatively correlated in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). CAM and rGMD significantly and positively correlated in the right putamen, insula, and precuneus. These results suggest that the brain areas that play central roles in externally modulated motivation (OFC and putamen) also contribute to SFAM and CAM, respectively, but in different ways. Furthermore, the brain areas in which rGMD correlated with CAM are related to cognitive processes associated with distressing emotions and social cognition, and these cognitive processes may characterize CAM.
authors.affiliation: Smart Ageing International Research Center, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan, takehi@idac.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nouchi
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kotozaki
authors.forename: Carlos Makoto
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Ryoichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.forename: Seishu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kunitoki
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sassa
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010555:Personality Inventory; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult