Toward a Neurobiology of Integrative Processes

Integrative processes refer to people’s strivings to develop and exercise their capacities for autonomous self-regulation. This chapter highlights the importance of integration within Self-Determination Theory (SDT), surveys the psychological research on the topic, and reviews the burgeoning neuroscience research on integrative processes. This chapter proposes that integration is multifaceted and that different neural networks orchestrate specific integrative processes. Different brain regions are seen as nodes operating within and across multiple decentralized networks that support the experiential and behavioral aspects of integrative processes already known to SDT scholars. This chapter additionally reviews some of the neuroscientific methods available to SDT researchers and flags conceptual difficulties in this emerging area of research that seeks to connect complex phenomenology with biology.