Integrative Evidence for Motivation and Cognitive Control

We will not accept manuscripts reporting research that was not part of the MCC conference. Research on cognitive control and executive function has long recognized the relevance of motivational factors, such as rewards, needs, and appetitive drives, in adaptive behavior and decision making. Cognitive control is both central to regulating actions in line with goals, and has been suggested to be a domain of reward-based decision making. Consequently, integrating behavioural and neuroscientific evidence should play a critical role in understanding the mechanisms by which motivation and cognitive control interact. The fields of computational cognitive neuroscience and psychology continue to explore this intricate relationship, and for over 20 years, Motivation and Cognitive Control (MCC) interdisciplinary meetings have fostered the scientific dissemination of such studies of neuronal and computational mechanisms of cognitive control, decision making, and motivation.This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of the mechanisms by which motivation and cognitive control interact, bridging theoretical, computational, and empirical research, with dissemination linked to the 9th International Conference on Motivation and Cognitive Control, MCC 2026, Helsinki, Finland. Contributions are encouraged that address open questions on the neural and psychological bases for motivated cognitive control, test competing hypotheses about executive function in motivational contexts, and articulate integrative models to inform both basic and applied research.To gather further insights in the boundaries of mechanistic, computational, and cross-species research on motivation and cognitive control, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Mechanisms linking motivation and cognitive control at behavioral and neural levels• Neurobiological and computational models of motivated decision making• Psychological and contextual factors influencing executive function• Comparative and translational studies from human and nonhuman animals• Appetitive motivation and its impact on cognition and control• Advances in experimental paradigms and analytic techniques• Theoretical frameworks integrating motivation, executive function, and brain systemsThis Research Topic welcomes: Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, Theory, and Hypothesis. Topic editors: Benjamin Ultan Cowley, Andrei Rodionov, Markus Ullsperger, Lauri Ahonen, Hans Kirschner Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76941/integrative-evidence-for-motivation-and-cognitive-control