title: Dimensionality of brain networks linked to life-long individual differences in self-control.
abstract: The ability to delay gratification in childhood has been linked to positive outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. Here we examine a subsample of participants from a seminal longitudinal study of self-control throughout a subject's life span. Self-control, first studied in children at age 4 years, is now re-examined 40 years later, on a task that required control over the contents of working memory. We examine whether patterns of brain activation on this task can reliably distinguish participants with consistently low and high self-control abilities (low versus high delayers). We find that low delayers recruit significantly higher-dimensional neural networks when performing the task compared with high delayers. High delayers are also more homogeneous as a group in their neural patterns compared with low delayers. From these brain patterns, we can predict with 71% accuracy, whether a participant is a high or low delayer. The present results suggest that dimensionality of neural networks is a biological predictor of self-control abilities.
authors: Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6A 2E1. mberman@research.baycrest.org
authors: Marc G
authors: MG
authors: Berman
authors: Grigori
authors: G
authors: Yourganov
authors: Mary K
authors: MK
authors: Askren
authors: Ozlem
authors: O
authors: Ayduk
authors: B J
authors: BJ
authors: Casey
authors: Ian H
authors: IH
authors: Gotlib
authors: Ethan
authors: E
authors: Kross
authors: Anthony R
authors: AR
authors: McIntosh
authors: Stephen
authors: S
authors: Strother
authors: Nicole L
authors: NL
authors: Wilson
authors: Vivian
authors: V
authors: Zayas
authors: Walter
authors: W
authors: Mischel
authors: Yuichi
authors: Y
authors: Shoda
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Jonides
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D007206:Individuality; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult