Why can that person build up their business? Brain systems relating to performance and behavior selection

The operation of the locus caeruleus: How are motivation and performance regulated in the brain?

There are any number of managers in the world, but a certain type of manager develops and expands one new enterprises after another and then goes on to build up the next and so on. The ability to do this requires both the power to zoom in and concentrate on the enterprise and the power to step back and look at the bigger picture, but which mechanisms in the brain are these abilities based in? In the brain, the neurotransmitter generally relating to motivation and concentration is dopamine (norepinephrine). The region associated with the secretion of dopamine is a collection of nerve cells known as the locus caeruleus, and although it is small, its branches extend widely throughout the brain and it regulates the brain’s activity as a whole.

Experiments on animals have shown that the locus caeruleus becomes momentarily active in important situations or at times when the animal needs to give their all. This could be, for instance, when a hungry monkey is shown a banana or when a thirsty mouse is shown a water lever—activity in the locus caeruleus momentarily sparks up, and as a result, the monkey can grab the banana well or the mouse can press the lever well. In other words, it is known that momentary increases in activity in the locus caeruleus have the effect of improving performance. In the case of people, probably at times like when a tennis rally stretches on, the locus caeruleus momentarily increases its activity at appropriate times.

However, whether it be tennis or bananas, eventually the subject will grow tired of it. This could be because it is not interesting or because the effect produced does not seem worth the effort put in, but at times like these, how does the activity of the locus caeruleus change?

The locus caeruleus’s role as a transfer function for attention

Whether on a tennis rally or on bananas, concentrating is important, but it is not always productive to be constantly obsessed with the same thing. When people think that a business is starting to peter out or it is not fun to be with someone, they often look at others and seek out more interesting enterprises or more attractive partners.

As if to support this, experiments on animals show that if a task is difficult or the reward obtained from a task is small, that is, if the utility decreases, the activity pattern in the locus caeruleus changes in conjunction with this. Specifically, when utility is high, momentary increases could be seen in the activity of the locus caeruleus at appropriate times, whereas when utility decreases, the locus caeruleus constantly exhibits increased activity, regardless of the timing.

The level rapidly decreases if we look just at performance in this state, but this is certainly not a bad thing. By entering this state, mice, monkeys and even we humans can move away from tasks with low utility and get into the mood to develop new fields.

However, how is the activity of the locus caeruleus regulated?

Operation of the anterior cingulate and the orbitofrontal area

The paper I discuss today is a review article concerning the locus caeruleus and its operation. According to the paper, changes in the activity pattern of the locus caeruleus (momentarily increasing depending on the situation, or being constantly increased regardless of the situation) are regulated by the cerebral cortex, and it suggests that the anterior cingulate, which is the link between emotion and reason, and the orbitofrontal area in the brain may be the specific areas that regulate the activity pattern of the locus caeruleus.

The figure below will be of reference.

The locus caeruleus works on the prefrontal cortex to change cognitive activity and actual performance, and above them are the anterior cingulate and the orbitofrontal area, which monitor the utility over the long term and regulate the activity pattern of the locus caeruleus by changing it between staying and concentrating, or looking further afield and moving on.

The ability to transfer attention is frequently an issue in higher brain dysfunction and development disorders, but I wondered whether skilled entrepreneurs have anterior cingulate/orbitofrontal area–locus caeruleus systems that work just right in a way that they do not break down.

Reference URL: An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: adaptive gain and optimal performance.