Impulsive personality and the ability to resist immediate reward: an fMRI study examining interindividual differences in the neural mechanisms underlying self-control.

ABSTRACT: The ability to resist immediate rewards is crucial for lifetime success and individual well-being. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed the association between trait impulsivity and the neural underpinnings of the ability to control immediate reward desiring. Low and high extreme impulsivity groups were compared with regard to their behavioral performance and brain activation in situations, in which they had to forego immediate rewards with varying value to achieve a superordinate long-term goal. We found that highly impulsive (HI) individuals, who successfully compensated for their lack in behavioral self-control, engaged two complementary brain mechanisms when choosing actions in favor of a long-term goal, but at the expense of an immediate reward. First, self-control

SUBMITTER: Diekhof EK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6870517 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature