Could You Hack Your Brain To Get More Motivated? was published by NPR on March 3, 2016. The article suggests that we can specifically activate a cluster of neurons in our brain, called the ventral tegmental area, that is responsible for motivation. The researchers used an fMRI to view the active areas of the brain, and participants were asked to motivate themselves in any way. Researchers were looking for the ventral tegmental area to light up on the scans, however, untrained individuals had difficulty completing the task. That changed when the participants were allowed to watch the neurofeedback meter that displayed their brain activity. By seeing the meter move (like watching a thermometer rise), participants were able to continuously motivate themselves to continue to raise the level of the meter. Kathryn Dickerson, a researcher on the case, said, "I was like, 'Come on Katie. Move the thermometer. Just do it and move it.' And I just pumped myself up. That was very effective."

The feedback allowed participants to discover how to turn that part of the brain on. Reported methods of activation were singing Queen songs to themselves or imagining having an angry coach yell at them. When the meter was removed, the subjects were still able to activate the ventral tegmental area. This data proves that after training, the brain changed, and something was not quite the same. Dickerson believes that people might be achieving a state of mind that's more conducive to learning and motivation. This is the first study to show that using an MRI to allow people to learn to control parts of their brain, a technique that has been previously utilized in other studies, can be applied to the brain structure for human motivation.

This can be very valuable for when people want to accomplish things in life. For example, researchers hypothesize that this method can be used in breaking bad habits such as smoking or developing good habits such as eating healthy, exercising, etc. They also hope that one day this research can be used clinically, for example, in treating mental diseases associated with the dopamine system. If patients were able to activate the clusters of neurons responsible for releasing dopamine, the method of activation may replace the need for drug therapies. However, more studies need to be done to see if brain structure is being affected this drastically. For now, if it's working, brain training in an MRI might be a way for us to tap into our mind's circuitry for willpower.