Modulatory effects of positive mood and approach motivation on reward processing: Two sides of the same coin?

In a previous study (Paul & Pourtois, 2017), we found that positive mood substantially influenced the neural processing of reward, mostly by altering expectations and creating an optimistic bias. Under positive mood, the Reward Positivity (RewP) component and fronto-medial theta activity (FM theta) in response to monetary feedback were both changed compared with neutral mood. Nevertheless, whether positive valence per se or motivational intensity drove these neurophysiological effects remained unclear. To address this question, we combined a mindset manipulation with an imagery procedure to create and maintain three different affective states using a between-subjects design: a neutral mood, and positive mood with either high or low motivational intensity. After mood induction, 161 participants performed a simple gambling task while 64-channel EEG was recorded. FM theta activity results showed that irrespective of motivational intensity, positive compared with neutral mood altered reward expectancy. By comparison, RewP was not affected by positive mood nor motivational intensity. These results suggest that positive mood, rather than motivational intensity, is likely driving the change in reward expectation during gambling, which could reflect the presence of an optimistic bias. Moreover, at the methodological level, they confirm that the RewP ERP component and FM theta activity can capture dissociable effects during reward processing.