ABSTRACT
A substantial amount of research has investigated how two fundamental dimensions of behavior—approach and avoidance—influence emotions, reasoning, and decision making. Catalyzed by improved neuroimaging techniques, behavioral investigations in both healthy subjects and individuals with selected brain lesions, and animal studies, our understanding of the neural circuitry supporting reward and punishment processing has grown rapidly (Berridge, 2007; Knutson & Cooper, 2005; Schultz, 2007). Though much remains unknown, we now possess insight into neural pathways implicated in distinct components of incentive processing. In addition to its basic scientific value, this knowledge promises to improve our understanding of various forms of psychopathology characterized by abnormal incentive processing, including depression.
