Gong Wenzhuo, Zhao Hengyue, Wei Zhuoran, Feng Tingyong, Feng Pan
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, No. 2, Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Brain Struct Funct. 2025 May 21;230(5):71. doi: 10.1007/s00429-025-02936-2.
Delay discounting is the tendency for people to devalue future rewards as the time required to obtain them increases over time. Self-control is the ability to regulate behavior, emotions and cognition to achieve goals or adhere to social norms despite temptations, impulses or distractions. Previous studies have found that self-control was negatively correlated with delay discounting. However, the neural mechanism underlying the relationship between self-control and delay discounting remains unclear. To address this question, we examined the neural basis of the relationship between self-control and delay discounting using voxel-based morphometry(VBM) and resting-state functional connectivity analysis(RSFC). The behavioral results demonstrated a negative correlation between delay discounting and self-control. Furthermore, the voxel-based morphometry results showed a positive correlation between self-control and gray matter volume in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(dlPFC). Moreover, self-control was positively correlated with functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex(mPFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. More importantly, the association between self-control and delay discounting was shown to be partially mediated by the functional connectivity between the dlPFC and mPFC. These findings suggested that dlPFC-mPFC functional connectivity could be the neural basis underlying the association between self-control and delay discounting, which provided novel insights into how self-control affected delay discounting and offered new explanations from a neural perspective.
延迟折扣是指随着获取未来奖励所需时间的增加，人们对其价值的评估逐渐降低的倾向。自我控制是指个体在面对诱惑、冲动或干扰时，调节行为、情绪和认知以实现目标或遵守社会规范的能力。先前的研究发现，自我控制与延迟折扣呈负相关。然而，自我控制与延迟折扣之间关系的神经机制仍不清楚。为了解决这个问题，我们使用基于体素的形态学测量（VBM）和静息态功能连接分析（RSFC）来研究自我控制与延迟折扣之间关系的神经基础。行为结果表明延迟折扣与自我控制呈负相关。此外，基于体素的形态学测量结果显示，自我控制与背外侧前额叶皮质（dlPFC）的灰质体积呈正相关。而且，自我控制与内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）和背外侧前额叶皮质之间的功能连接呈正相关。更重要的是，自我控制与延迟折扣之间的关联部分是由dlPFC和mPFC之间的功能连接介导的。这些发现表明，dlPFC-mPFC功能连接可能是自我控制与延迟折扣之间关联的神经基础，这为自我控制如何影响延迟折扣提供了新的见解，并从神经角度提供了新的解释。
