Krönke Klaus-Martin, Wolff Max, Mohr Holger, Kräplin Anja, Smolka Michael N, Bühringer Gerhard, Goschke Thomas
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Zellescher Weg 17, 01062, Dresden, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2018 Aug;18(4):622-637. doi: 10.3758/s13415-018-0593-5.
Despite their immense relevance, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying real-life self-control failures (SCFs) are insufficiently understood. Whereas previous studies have shown that SCFs were associated with decreased activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG; a region involved in cognitive control), here we consider the possibility that the reduced implementation of cognitive control in individuals with low self-control may be due to impaired performance monitoring. Following a brain-as-predictor approach, we combined experience sampling of daily SCFs with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a Stroop task. In our sample of 118 participants, proneness to SCF was reliably predicted by low error-related activation of a performance-monitoring network (comprising anterior mid-cingulate cortex, presupplementary motor area, and anterior insula), low posterror rIFG activation, and reduced posterror slowing. Remarkably, these neural and behavioral measures predicted variability in SCFs beyond what was predicted by self-reported trait self-control. These results suggest that real-life SCFs may result from deficient performance monitoring, leading to reduced recruitment of cognitive control after responses that conflict with superordinate goals.
尽管现实生活中的自我控制失败（SCFs）具有极大的相关性，但其潜在的神经认知机制仍未得到充分理解。以往的研究表明，自我控制失败与右下额叶回（rIFG，一个参与认知控制的区域）的活动减少有关，而在此我们考虑一种可能性，即自我控制能力低的个体认知控制实施减少可能是由于绩效监测受损。遵循以大脑为预测指标的方法，我们将日常自我控制失败的经验抽样与Stroop任务中的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）相结合。在我们的118名参与者样本中，绩效监测网络（包括前扣带回中部、辅助运动区和前岛叶）的低错误相关激活、错误后rIFG激活降低以及错误后反应减慢，均可靠地预测了自我控制失败的倾向。值得注意的是，这些神经和行为指标所预测的自我控制失败的变异性超过了自我报告的特质自我控制所预测的范围。这些结果表明，现实生活中的自我控制失败可能是由于绩效监测不足导致的，从而在与上级目标冲突的反应后导致认知控制的募集减少。
