In this talk I will begin with addressing different kinds of motivation and its sources, from homeostatic drives to exploration of novel environments and the pursuit of cues and contexts that are predictive of beneficial outcome. The topic of cue- and context-based reward predictions will be deepened by looking at the systems neurophysiology of the hippocampus and ventral striatum, which have been implicated in episodic memory and learned motivated behavior, but which are nonetheless intimately connected.
