Incentive salience

Incentive salience refers to the "wanting" or "desire" attribute given by the brain – specifically, by the nucleus accumbens shell – to a rewarding stimulus. Reward is the attractive and motivational property of a stimulus that induces appetitive behavior – also known as approach behavior – and consummatory behavior. This "wanting" is unlike "liking" in that liking is a pleasure immediately gained from consumption or other contact with stimuli, while the "wanting" of incentive salience is a motivational magnet quality of a stimulus that makes it a desirable and attractive goal, transforming it from a mere sensory experience into something that commands attention, induces approach, and causes it to be sought out. Incentive salience is regulated by dopamine activity in the mesocorticolimbic pathway of the brain.