HSD: Collaborative Research: Self-Control in the Life Course

每天，人们都会遇到需要克服的诱惑，以获得理想的未来结果。当小学生决定做作业而不是看电视时，成年人决定为退休储蓄而不是享受一个漫长的假期时，他们也面临着这些问题。是什么使我们有时能抵抗诱惑，而有时却不能？是基本的大脑功能和解剖结构，其中一些可能是基于基因变异？本研究的目的是了解自我控制的认知和神经基础，特别是克服冲动反应的能力，以及在服务于延迟但更理想的未来结果时延迟即时满足的能力。调查人员将从三个层面详细审查这一过程。首先，在心理过程层面，研究人员将研究自我控制在多大程度上与人们的能力有关(1)阻止不想要的信息进入（例如，通过注意其他事情），或(2)抑制不想要的想法（例如，通过思考其他事情），或(3)阻止自己采取行动（例如，通过保持手不动）。其次，自我控制过程将在大脑功能和解剖学的层面上进行分析。过去的研究已经确定，当人们参与这些过程时，大脑中特别活跃的区域，以及大脑中似乎起关键作用的区域之间的联系。这些功能和解剖特征将与有效的自我控制策略有关，如屏蔽信息、抑制思想和抑制行为。最后，自我控制过程将在遗传学水平上进行检查。最近的研究发现，某些基因的变异可能与人的自我控制能力有关。当目标DNA序列已知时，现代技术使得使用一种简单、非侵入性和经济有效的方法来检查这些基因的变异成为可能。利用这种方法，研究人员将确定这些已知的基因变异是否也与这三种心理过程有关，以及与之相关的大脑功能和解剖学。参与者将来自一项纵向研究，该研究从306名参与者开始，他们在20世纪70年代初进入幼儿园。从最初的测试开始，每十年对面对眼前诱惑追求长期目标的能力进行一次评估。参与者现在已经到了30多岁和40多岁，他们的生活结果的信息，如他们的职业、婚姻、身体健康和心理健康状况，都是可以获得的。在提议的项目中，我们将对两组人进行纵向研究。四十年来，一组人一直表现出高水平的自我控制能力，而另一组人一直表现出远低于平均水平的自我控制能力。通过比较这两组，我们希望了解基本心理过程、大脑功能和解剖结构以及基因变异与自我控制的关系。我们从这项研究中学到的东西可能会导致对自我控制机制的更精确理解，并可能为未来的干预提供基础，以促进人们努力发挥自我控制。

Every day, people encounter temptations that they need to overcome in order to obtain desirable future outcomes. School children face them when they decide to do their homework instead of watching TV, and adults face them when they decide to save for their retirement rather than enjoy an extensive vacation. What makes it possible to resist temptation some times, but not others? Is it basic brain function and anatomy, some of which may be based on genetic variations? The goal of this research is to understand the cognitive and neural bases of self-control, in particular the ability to override impulsive responding and to delay immediate gratification in the service a delayed, but more desirable, future consequence. The investigators will examine this process in detail at three levels. First, at the level of mental processes, the researchers will examine the extent to which self-control has to do with people's ability (1) to block the entry of unwanted information (e.g., by paying attention to something else), or (2) to suppress unwanted thoughts (e.g., by thinking about something else), or (3) to stop themselves from acting (e.g., by keeping one's hand from moving). Second, self-control processes will be analyzed at the level of brain functioning and anatomy. Past research has identified areas of the brain that become particularly activated when people engage in these processes, as well as connections between areas of the brain that seem to play a key role. These functional and anatomical features will be related to effective self-control strategies, such as shutting out information, suppressing thoughts, and inhibiting behavior. Finally, self-control processes will be examined at the level of genetics. Recent research has found that variations in some genes may be related to people's ability to self-control. Modern technology has made it possible to examine which variation of these genes people have using a simple, non-invasive and cost-effective method, when the target DNA sequences are known. Using such methods, the researchers will determine if these known gene variations are also related to the three mental processes, as well as the brain functioning and anatomy associated with them. The participants will come from a longitudinal study, which began with a sample of 306 participants when they were enrolled in preschool in the early 1970s. The ability to pursue long-term goals in the face of immediate temptation was assessed once every decade since the original testing. Participants have now reached their late 30s and early 40s, and information about their life-outcomes, such as their occupational, marital, and physical health, and mental health status are becoming available. In the proposed project, we will study two groups of people in this longitudinal study. Individuals in one group have displayed high levels of self-control consistently over four decades, and those in the other group have consistently displayed self-control abilities well below the average of the cohort. By comparing these groups, we hope to learn the extent to which basic mental processes, brain functions and anatomy, and genetic variations are related to self-control. What we learn from this study may lead to a more precise understanding of the mechanisms that enable self-control, and may provide a foundation for future intervention to facilitate people's efforts to exert self-control.