Is There a Common Neural Mechanism for Self-Control?

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): OBJECTIVE: A loss of self-control is a defining feature of substance abuse. However, there are many different types of self-control. For example, slamming on the brakes when a child runs in front of one's car, walking away from a successful poker game so as not to risk losing one's winnings, putting a paycheck into savings instead of spending it immediately, or suppressing anger so as to seem composed in a professional situation all require self-control in vastly different ways. Evidence suggests individuals with substance abuse may be deficient in each of these forms of self-control. In the laboratory, they have been shown to be deficient in motor inhibition tasks, behavioral choice tasks such as risk-taking and delaying gratification, and emotion regulation tasks that require inhibition of the "hot" emotional system to allow the "cool" cognitive system to make decisions. It is therefore possible that deficient self-control is a risk factor for developing substance abuse. Previous research has assumed all forms of self-control rely on a single neural mechanism involving the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC), yet this theory has not been directly tested. Thus, this proposal aims to reveal whether there is a single self-control system by directly relating both behavioral performance and neural activity in multiple tasks requiring different forms of self-control. METHOD: Both a behavioral and an fMRI study will be conducted in healthy adults relating performance on tasks in the four self-control domains mentioned above. Self-control ability on each task will be related to one another and to responses on self-report questionnaires probing impulsivity and risky behavior in both studies. The fMRI study will further explore whether there is overlap in the regions recruited during acts requiring self-control, specifically focusing on the rVLPFC, and whether behavioral performance relates to degree of rVLPFC involvement. It is hypothesized that a unitary self-control system will be noted, as indicated by related behavioral performance on all tasks and common rVLPFC involvement that increases relative to improved performance. RELEVANCE: This research will lead to an increased understanding of the nuances of successful self-control. This is crucial considering that a greater understanding of an intact self-control mechanism may lead to new treatments that efficiently target the self-control system and help individuals with disorders such as substance abuse and dependence that result from deficient self-control.