Review
The neuroscience of impulsive and self-controlled decisions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2006.05.010Get rights and content

Abstract

Impulsiveness and self-control are two antagonistic choice patterns. Whereas impulsive decisions can be exemplified by the preference for a small, immediate over a large, delayed reward, self-control can be characterised as the opposite preference order. This review focuses on current developments in investigating the neuroscience of impulsiveness and self-control, with particular emphasis on the neuroanatomy, psychopharmacology, and electrophysiology of this class of decision making. The role of the avian forebrain in representing and processing temporal reward discounting – a chief psychological mechanism responsible for producing impulsiveness – is especially highlighted. In addition to its role in impulsive decision making, the avian forebrain also appears to be involved in processing the key functions required for action- and self-control. In particular, recent electrophysiological studies indicate that single forebrain neurons reflect aspects of response omission strategy and the temporal scheduling of response withholding when execution of action needs to be controlled. In conclusion, the significant advances in this field of research may help to explain neuropathologies that are characterised by exaggerated impulsivity, or lack of self-control, as for instance attention deficit disorders, frontal lobe syndrome, drug addiction, or pathological gambling.

Section snippets

Impulsivity and self-control as antagonistic choice dispositions

Virtually all living species frequently make decisions that promise a benefit on the short run, but turn out to be detrimental on the long run. At the same time, humans and other animals have developed more or less efficient ways to manage the temptation of instant gratification whenever the immediate outcomes of a choice are less desirable than the future prospects. The two dispositions that govern decisions about future consequences are called ‘impulsivity’ and ‘self-control’. To simplify

Decision networks in the pigeon

Despite our increasing knowledge about the anatomy and pharmacology of impulsiveness and self-control, the underlying brain mechanisms are still mainly unidentified. Since pigeons have been the most frequently used species in psychological research to reveal the behavioural processes underlying this type of decision making, they are a suitable animal model to investigate the neuroscience of impulsivity/self-control. In our lab, we have therefore conducted several choice experiments using

List of abbreviations

    5-HT

    serotonin

    BLA

    basolateral amygdala

    DA

    dopamine

    LI-key

    long interval key

    mPFC

    medial prefrontal cortex

    NAc

    nucleus accumbens

    NCL

    nidopallium caudolaterale

    OFC

    orbitofrontal cortex

    PFC

    prefrontal cortex

    SI-key

    short interval key

    STA

    subthalamic nucleus

    TTX

    tetrodotoxin

    VMPFC

    ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Acknowledgements

Some elements of this review are part of the diploma thesis of TO, and the PhD thesis of TK. TK was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through the priority programme ‘Executive Functions’ (DFG SPP 1107). We would like to thank our colleagues, in particular Dr. Sabine Windmann and Dr. Bettina Diekamp, for their tireless readiness to help at all times and for all the invaluable discussions.

References (56)

  • G. Ainslie

    Specious reward: a behavioral theory of impulsiveness and impulse control

    Psychol. Bull.

    (1975)
  • A. Bechara et al.

    Characterization of the decision-making deficit of patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions

    Brain

    (2000)
  • J. Bizot et al.

    Serotonin and tolerance to delay of reward in rats

    Psychopharmacology (Berl.)

    (1999)
  • C.D. Brody et al.

    Timing and neural encoding of somatosensory parametric working memory in macaque prefrontal cortex

    Cereb. Cortex

    (2003)
  • R.N. Cardinal et al.

    The effects of d-amphetamine, chlordiazepoxide, alpha-flupenthixol and behavioural manipulations on choice of signalled and unsignalled delayed reinforcement in rats

    Psychopharmacology (Berl.)

    (2000)
  • R.N. Cardinal et al.

    Impulsive choice induced in rats by lesions of the nucleus accumbens core

    Science

    (2001)
  • B. Diekamp et al.

    Working memory neurons in pigeons

    J. Neurosci.

    (2002)
  • A. Dietrich et al.

    The effects of total and subtotal prefrontal cortex lesions on the timing ability of the rat

    Psychobiology

    (1997)
  • D. Durstewitz

    Self-organizing neural integrator predicts interval times through climbing activity

    J. Neurosci.

    (2003)
  • J.L. Evenden

    Varieties of impulsivity

    Psychopharmacology (Berl.)

    (1999)
  • J.L. Evenden

    The pharmacology of impulsive behaviour in rats: V. The effects of drugs on responding under a discrimination task using unreliable visual stimuli

    Psychopharmacology (Berl.)

    (1999)
  • J.L. Evenden

    The pharmacology of impulsive behaviour in rats: VII. The effects of serotonergic agonists and antagonists on responding under a discrimination task using unreliable visual stimuli

    Psychopharmacology (Berl.)

    (1999)
  • J.L. Evenden et al.

    The pharmacology of impulsive behaviour in rats: the effects of drugs on response choice with varying delays of reinforcement

    Psychopharmacology (Berl.)

    (1996)
  • J.L. Evenden et al.

    The pharmacology of impulsive behaviour in rats: VI. The effects of ethanol and selective serotonergic drugs on response choice with varying delays of reinforcement

    Psychopharmacology (Berl.)

    (1999)
  • J.M. Fuster

    Cortex and Mind – Unifying Cognition

    (2003)
  • D.S. Grant

    Symmetrical and asymmetrical coding of food and no-food samples in delayed matching in pigeons

    J. Exp. Psychol., Anim. Behav. Processes

    (1991)
  • L.V. Gregorios-Pippas et al.

    Processing of reward delay and magnitude in the human brain

  • C.L. Grossbard et al.

    A comparison of delays and ratio requirements in self-control choice

    J. Exp. Anal. Behav.

    (1986)
  • Cited by (68)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    1

    Tel.: +49 234 3226213; fax: +49 234 3214377.

    View full text