Journal
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
Volume 69, Issue 12, Pages 1140-1146Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.07.005
Keywords
Basal ganglia; intertemporal choice; response inhibition; speed-accuracy tradeoff; switching; temporal discounting
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [RL1 DA024855]
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Impulsivity refers to a set of heterogeneous behaviors that are tuned suboptimally along certain temporal dimensions. Impulsive intertemporal choice refers to the tendency to forego a large but delayed reward and to seek an inferior but more immediate reward, whereas impulsive motor responses also result when the subjects fail to suppress inappropriate automatic behaviors. In addition, impulsive actions can be produced when too much emphasis is placed on speed rather than accuracy in a wide range of behaviors, including perceptual decision making. Despite this heterogeneous nature, the prefrontal cortex and its connected areas, such as the basal ganglia, play an important role in gating impulsive actions in a variety of behavioral tasks. Here, we describe key features of computations necessary for optimal decision making and how their failures can lead to impulsive behaviors. We also review the recent findings from neuroimaging and single-neuron recording studies on the neural mechanisms related to impulsive behaviors. Converging approaches in economics, psychology, and neuroscience provide a unique vista for better understanding the nature of behavioral impairments associated with impulsivity.
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