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

每天，人们都会遇到他们需要克服的诱惑，以便获得理想的未来结果。当学生决定做作业而不是看电视时，他们会面对他们；当成年人决定为退休储蓄而不是享受长假时，他们也会面对他们。是什么让我们可以在某些时候抵制诱惑，但在其他时候就不可能呢？这是基本的大脑功能和解剖学吗，其中一些可能是基于基因变异？这项研究的目的是了解自我控制的认知和神经基础，特别是超越冲动反应和延迟服务中的即时满足感的能力，这是一种延迟的、但更令人满意的未来后果。调查人员将从三个层面详细审查这一过程。首先，在心理过程的层面上，研究人员将考察自我控制与人的能力的关系：(1)阻止不想要的信息进入(例如，通过关注其他事情)，(2)抑制不想要的想法(例如，通过思考其他事情)，或(3)阻止自己行动(例如，通过保持手不动)。其次，将在大脑功能和解剖学水平上分析自我控制过程。过去的研究已经发现，当人们参与这些过程时，大脑中变得特别活跃的区域，以及似乎发挥关键作用的大脑区域之间的联系。这些功能和解剖特征将与有效的自我控制策略有关，如关闭信息、抑制思想和抑制行为。最后，我们将从遗传学的角度考察自我控制的过程。最近的研究发现，一些基因的变异可能与人的自我控制能力有关。现代技术使人们有可能在知道目标DNA序列的情况下，使用一种简单、非侵入性和成本效益高的方法来检查这些基因的哪些变异。使用这种方法，研究人员将确定这些已知的基因变异是否也与三个心理过程有关，以及与它们相关的大脑功能和解剖结构。参与者将来自一项纵向研究，该研究始于上世纪70年代初进入学前班时的306名参与者的样本。自最初的测试以来，每十年对面对眼前诱惑时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岁末和40岁出头，关于他们的生活结果的信息，如他们的职业、婚姻和身体健康，以及精神健康状况正在变得可用。在拟议的项目中，我们将在这一纵向研究中研究两组人。其中一组的人在过去的40年里一直表现出高水平的自控能力，而另一组的人一直表现出远低于队列平均水平的自控能力。通过比较这些群体，我们希望了解基本的心理过程、大脑功能和解剖学以及基因变异与自我控制的关系程度。我们从这项研究中学到的东西可能会让我们更准确地理解使人能够自我控制的机制，并可能为未来的干预提供基础，以促进人们施加自我控制的努力。

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.