The need for autonomy is probably tied to brain mechanisms for voluntary control that are located
in the frontal cortex and the cingulate. In their second year, the development of frontal control
mechanisms allows children to demonstrate voluntary control of actions and to begin to delay
gratification by valuing larger, later rewards over immediate, smaller ones. Improved control enables
them to have more effective attention and self-regulation. Without the expectation of and desire for
autonomy, children would remain content with having their needs met by caregivers. Adolescence
brings another major period of development of the frontal cortex, associated with even greater
desires for autonomy. Even more than toddlers, teenagers take higher satisfaction from actions they
can perform for themselves. It thus seems that interactions between the executive control regions of
the brain, the frontal cortex, and the emotional systems yield greater effort-based rewards for goals
that are satisfied through the agent's own actions. Psychologists have found that people are happier,
healthier, and more hardworking when they are following goals that are authentic: rooted in their own
deeply held interests and core values. Further research is needed to describe detailed mechanisms
that underlie enhanced satisfaction with the results of self-regulated actions.