Departmental Papers (ASC)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
4-2011
Publication Source
Psychological Science
Volume
22
Issue
4
Start Page
498
Last Page
506
DOI
10.1177/0956797611400918
Abstract
Successful goal pursuit involves repeatedly engaging self-control against temptations or distractions that arise along the way. Laboratory studies have identified the brain systems recruited during isolated instances of self-control, and ecological studies have linked self-control capacity to goal outcomes. However, no study has identified the neural systems of everyday self-control during long-term goal pursuit. The present study integrated neuroimaging and experience-sampling methods to investigate the brain systems of successful self-control among smokers attempting to quit. A sample of 27 cigarette smokers completed a go/no-go task during functional magnetic resonance imaging before they attempted to quit smoking and then reported everyday self-control using experience sampling eight times daily for 3 weeks while they attempted to quit. Increased activation in right inferior frontal gyrus, pre-supplementary motor area, and basal ganglia regions of interest during response inhibition at baseline was associated with an attenuated association between cravings and subsequent smoking. These findings support the ecological validity of neurocognitive tasks as indices of everyday response inhibition.
Keywords
self-control, smoking cessation, brain-as-predictor, right inferior frontal gyrus, response inhibition, text messaging
Recommended Citation
Berkman, E. T., Falk, E. B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2011). In the Trenches of Real-World Self-Control: Neural Correlates of Breaking the Link Between Craving and Smoking. Psychological Science, 22 (4), 498-506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611400918
Date Posted: 23 May 2016
This document has been peer reviewed.
Comments
This is the Author's accepted manuscript.