Reward Sensitivity

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Reward sensitivity is a vulnerability trait defined by a person’s heightened responses to goal-oriented cues and pleasurable stimuli. In the Reward Hypersensitivity Model,  suggesting the biological systems governing approach motivation (seeking out rewards) are overly reactive in those with bipolar spectrum disorders. As follows:

• Reward hypersensitivity is a tendency for the brain’s reward system to over-activate in response to positive life events or goals (job promotions, financial success), often triggering hypomanic or manic symptoms (elevated energy, excessive confidence, decreased need for food or sleep).
• Extreme downregulation in this same hypersensitive system means the person can over-deactivate in response to failure or loss, leading to deep motivational deficits and low energy characteristic of bipolar depression.
• Trait stability, as research suggests, means this sensitivity remains elevated even during periods of remission (euthymia). It’s a potential BD biological marker, not only a symptom of a mood episode.
• Neural basis underlies this sensitivity (linked to a fronto-striatal circuit in the brain — specifically the ventral striatum and orbitofrontal cortex) — which processes reward value and motivates effort. 

Behavioral signs:

• Ambitious goal-striving: Setting extremely high or “statistically unlikely” goals (becoming famous or wealthy).
• Sustained effort: Continuing to work harder than average when a reward is possible, even as tasks become increasingly difficult.
• Confidence surges: Experiencing a prolonged increase in self-confidence after even a minor success.