Neural mechanism of basic psychological needs satisfaction based on self-determination theory

Abstract

Individuals have basic psychological needs – autonomy, competence, relatedness – that must be satisfied to maintain the overall vitality and psychological well-being. Optimal motivation is critical for maintaining individuals’ psychological health. In this way, moving towards an intrinsically motivated state leads individuals to have higher satisfaction with life. The current research expands the previous neuroimaging studies on basic psychological needs support and intrinsic motivation by examining the differences in functional connectivity of individuals with high and low life satisfaction. A total of 83 young adults (mean age =22.9, SD = 2.46) were divided into high satisfaction and low satisfaction with life groups. The overall satisfaction with life, basic psychological needs satisfaction, self-esteem, self-perceived anxiety and depression were measured. The main task consisted of a 5-min resting-state fMRI scan followed by an anatomical scanning of the entire brain. A seed-to-voxel analysis was performed with a CONN Toolbox on Matlab R2018a. The regions of interest were the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), and nucleus accumbens (NAcc). The two groups showed significant differences in each of the autonomy (t81=4.47, p<0.001), competence (t81=7.28, p<0.001), and relatedness score (t81=3.68, p<0.001). No differences in age and gender was found. There was a significant group-by-autonomy score interaction in mOFC – right occipital cortex connectivity (PFDR < 0.001) and a significant interaction effect in NAcc – bilateral frontopolar cortex (FPC) connectivity (PFDR < 0.001), and NAcc – bilateral mOFC connectivity (PFDR = 0.001). As for the group-by-competence score interaction, the connection between the amygdala and bilateral medial prefrontal cortex was significant (PFDR = 0.002). Finally, a significant group-by-relatedness score interaction effect was found in mOFC – left FPC connectivity (PFDR = 0.002) and mOFC – left subcallosal ACC connectivity (PFDR = 0.036). Also, a significant effect was found in NAcc – bilateral posterior cingulate cortex connectivity (PFDR < 0.001) and ACC – bilateral ventromedial prefrontal cortex connectivity (PFDR = 0.004). These findings suggest that individuals’ perceived life satisfaction affects the relationship between the basic psychological needs support and reward processing in the brain. 자기결정성이론의 주요 요소인 자율성, 유능감, 그리고 관계성에 대한 신경학적 기전을 알아보는 것이 목적이다. 개인의 심리적 행복을 유지하기 위해서는 이 세가지 요소가 충족되어야 한다. 본 연구에서는 삶의 만족도가 높고 낮은 집단의 뇌 기능적 연결성 차이를 조사함으로써 기본적인 심리적 욕구 충족과 동기 부여에 대한 기전을 밝힌다. 청년층 83명(평균연령 22.9, SD = 2.46)을 높은 만족도와 낮은 삶의 만족도 그룹으로 나눠 삶의 만족도, 기본 심리적 욕구 만족도, 자존감, 불안과 우울감을 측정했다. 5분 휴식 상태의 fMRI 이미지를 분석한 결과 내측 안와전두피질(medial orbitofrontal cortex)와 후두 피질(occipital cortex)에서의 상호작용 효과가 나타났고 측좌핵(nucleus accumbens)와 전두극피질(frontopolar cortex) 그리고 측좌핵과 안와전두피질 간의 효과가 유의했다. 유능감 점수에 관해서는 편도체(amygdala)와 내측전전두엽(medial prefrontal cortex)간의 효과가 유의했다. 마지막으로 관계성 만족도는 측좌핵과 후대상피질(posterior cingulate cortex)간의 효과가 유의했다. 이러한 발견은 개인의 삶의 만족도가 심리적 욕구 지지 정도와 보상 처리 사이의 관계에 영향을 미친다는 것을 시사한다.