Neural Predictors of Giving in to Temptation in Daily Life

The ability to control desires, whether for food, sex, or drugs, enables people to function successfully within society. Yet, in tempting situations, strong impulses often result in self-control failure. Although many triggers of self-control failure have been identified, the question remains as to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2014-07, Vol.25 (7), p.1337-1344
Main Authors: Lopez, Richard B., Hofmann, Wilhelm, Wagner, Dylan D., Kelley, William M., Heatherton, Todd F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of daily living
Adolescent
Adult
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Behavioural psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain research
Ecological momentary assessment
Everyday life
Feeding Behavior - psychology
Female
Food
Functional Neuroimaging
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Impulsive Behavior
Individuality
Life control
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Miscellaneous
Neuroimaging
Neurology
Nucleus Accumbens - physiology
Personality. Affectivity
Prefrontal Cortex - physiology
Probability theory
Prognosis
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Resistance
Response inhibition
Self control
Self-Control - psychology
Social psychology
Temptation
Young Adult
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Summary:The ability to control desires, whether for food, sex, or drugs, enables people to function successfully within society. Yet, in tempting situations, strong impulses often result in self-control failure. Although many triggers of self-control failure have been identified, the question remains as to why some individuals are more likely than others to give in to temptation. In this study, we combined functional neuroimaging and experience sampling to determine if there are brain markers that predict whether people act on their food desires in daily life. We examined food-cue-related activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), as well as activity associated with response inhibition in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Greater NAcc activity was associated with greater likelihood of self-control failures, whereas IFG activity supported successful resistance to temptations. These findings demonstrate an important role for the neural mechanisms underlying desire and self-control in people's real-world experiences of temptations.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1177/0956797614531492