trial. Despite the absence of reward or any other immediate extrinsic motivator, the dopaminergic midbrain showed enhanced activity for high compared to low task demands. Thus, anticipation of attentionally demanding tasks, independent of any extrinsic factor, can invoke neural processes that resemble the anticipation of reward, suggesting that the dopaminergic midbrain is more generally engaged in flexible resource allocation processes to meet situational requirements for which it can be recruited in different ways (see also Nieoullon, 2002; Salamone et al., 2005).
