The quest of unraveling a person’s motive has captivated our imagination since the dawn of humankind. To parse motivated behavior, our lab is using functional neuroimaging techniques in combination with detailed behavioral, physiological, and psychological assessments. Based on these rich assessments, we build statistical and computational models decoding motivation and latent desires. By capitalizing on big data from many different modalities, we envision predicting future actions in everyday life. Such detailed knowledge is indispensable in improving treatments for many mental disorders, which are characterized by seemingly inappropriate actions or desires. To target motivational circuits and symptoms, we use various neuromodulation techniques such as non-invasive brain stimulation.