TY - JOUR
T1 - Prefrontal cortex and impulsive decision making
AU - Kim, Soyoun
AU - Lee, Daeyeol
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health ( RL1 DA024855 ).
PY - 2011/6/15
Y1 - 2011/6/15
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Basal ganglia
KW - intertemporal choice
KW - response inhibition
KW - speed-accuracy tradeoff
KW - switching
KW - temporal discounting
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.07.005
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.07.005
M3 - Review article
C2 - 20728878
AN - SCOPUS:78651378473
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 69
SP - 1140
EP - 1146
JO - Biological Psychiatry
JF - Biological Psychiatry
IS - 12
ER -