Neural and computational mechanisms of effort under the pressure of a deadline

Summary Deadlines fundamentally shape the motivation for effort. Research examining effort-based choices finds high effort is an avoided cost. However, this work overlooks the fact that effort can be valuable when it makes progress on long-term goals before deadlines. We test a new framework where motivation depends on deadline pressure (work remaining / time remaining). Across three studies we use computational modelling on novel tasks examining effort-based decisions when effort makes progress on goals with deadlines. In support of hypotheses, deadline pressure significantly impacts decision-making, shifting people from avoiding effort, to seeking and valuing it. Using ultra-high-field fMRI, we show that functionally connected putamen and midcingulate cortex (MCC) sub-regions process and update estimates of deadline pressure, with distinct anterior cingulate and putamen sub-regions processing the costs or added value of effort. We show the neurocomputational mechanisms for how deadline pressure shapes motivation, and that keep us ‘on track’ for our goals.