-
Journal of Pharmacological Sciences 2012Higher impulsivity is thought to be a risk factor for drug addiction, criminal involvement, and suicide. Excessive levels of impulsivity are often observed in several... (Review)
Review
Higher impulsivity is thought to be a risk factor for drug addiction, criminal involvement, and suicide. Excessive levels of impulsivity are often observed in several psychiatric disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia. Previous studies have demonstrated that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are involved in impulsive behavior. Here, we introduce recent advances in this field and describe the role of the following nAChR-related brain mechanisms in modulating impulsive behavior: dopamine release in the ventral striatum; α4β2 nAChRs in the infralimbic cortex, which is a ventral part of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC); and dopamine release in the mPFC. We also suggest several potential therapeutic drugs to address these mechanisms in impulsivity-related disorders and explore future directions to further elucidate the roles of central nAChRs in impulsive behavior.
Topics: Animals; Basal Ganglia; Dopamine; Dopamine Agents; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Prefrontal Cortex; Receptors, Nicotinic
PubMed: 22447304
DOI: 10.1254/jphs.11r06cr -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Feb 2019Our willingness to take risks, our ability to wait or the speed with which to make decisions are central features of our personality. However, it is now recognized that...
Our willingness to take risks, our ability to wait or the speed with which to make decisions are central features of our personality. However, it is now recognized that impulsive and risk-taking behaviours are not a unitary construct, and different aspects can be both psychologically and neurally dissociated. The range of neurochemicals and brain systems that govern these behaviours is extensive, and this may be a contributing factor to the phenotypic range seen in the human population. However, this variety can also be pathological as extremes in risk-taking and impulsive behaviours are characteristics of many neuropsychiatric and indeed neurodegenerative disorders. This spans obsessive-compulsive disorder, where behaviour becomes ridged and non-spontaneous, to the nonsensical risk-taking seen in gambling and drug taking. This article is part of the theme issue 'Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications'.
Topics: Decision Making; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Risk-Taking
PubMed: 30966916
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0128 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Feb 2019Epidemiological data suggest that risk taking in the real world increases from childhood into adolescence and declines into adulthood. However, developmental patterns of... (Review)
Review
Epidemiological data suggest that risk taking in the real world increases from childhood into adolescence and declines into adulthood. However, developmental patterns of behaviour in laboratory assays of risk taking and impulsive choice are inconsistent. In this article, we review a growing literature using behavioural economic approaches to understand developmental changes in risk taking and impulsivity. We present findings that have begun to elucidate both the cognitive and neural processes that contribute to risky and impulsive choice, as well as how age-related changes in these neurocognitive processes give rise to shifts in choice behaviour. We highlight how variability in task parameters can be used to identify specific aspects of decision contexts that may differentially influence risky and impulsive choice behaviour across development. This article is part of the theme issue 'Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications'.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Child; Child, Preschool; Decision Making; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Risk-Taking; Young Adult
PubMed: 30966918
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0133 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... 2013Impulsivity, defined as the tendency to act without foresight, comprises a multitude of constructs and is associated with a variety of psychiatric disorders. Dissecting... (Review)
Review
Impulsivity, defined as the tendency to act without foresight, comprises a multitude of constructs and is associated with a variety of psychiatric disorders. Dissecting different aspects of impulsive behaviour and relating these to specific neurobiological circuits would improve our understanding of the etiology of complex behaviours for which impulsivity is key, and advance genetic studies in this behavioural domain. In this review, we will discuss the heritability of some impulsivity constructs and their possible use as endophenotypes (heritable, disease-associated intermediate phenotypes). Several functional genetic variants associated with impulsive behaviour have been identified by the candidate gene approach and re-sequencing, and whole genome strategies can be implemented for discovery of novel rare and common alleles influencing impulsivity. Via deep sequencing an uncommon HTR2B stop codon, common in one population, was discovered, with implications for understanding impulsive behaviour in both humans and rodents and for future gene discovery.
Topics: Alleles; Animals; Attention; Codon, Terminator; Cognition; Genetic Heterogeneity; Genotype; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Inheritance Patterns; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Monoamine Oxidase; Neurotransmitter Agents; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2B; Risk-Taking; Serotonin
PubMed: 23440466
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0380 -
Neuroscience Jul 2012Impulsive people have a strong urge to act without thinking. It is sometimes regarded as a positive trait but rash impulsiveness is also widely present in clinical... (Review)
Review
Impulsive people have a strong urge to act without thinking. It is sometimes regarded as a positive trait but rash impulsiveness is also widely present in clinical disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), drug dependence, mania, and antisocial behaviour. Contemporary research has begun to make major inroads into unravelling the brain mechanisms underlying impulsive behaviour with a prominent focus on the limbic cortico-striatal systems. With this progress has come the understanding that impulsivity is a multi-faceted behavioural trait involving neurally and psychologically diverse elements. We discuss the significance of this heterogeneity for clinical disorders expressing impulsive behaviour and the pivotal contribution made by the brain dopamine and serotonin systems in the aetiology and treatment of behavioural syndromes expressing impulsive symptoms.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Dopamine; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Serotonin
PubMed: 22542672
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.03.065 -
Journal of Child and Adolescent... Feb 2016This selective review provides a model of the neurobiology of impulsive aggression from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. It is argued that prototypical cases of... (Review)
Review
This selective review provides a model of the neurobiology of impulsive aggression from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. It is argued that prototypical cases of impulsive aggression, those associated with anger, involve the recruitment of the acute threat response system structures; that is, the amygdala, hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray. It is argued that whether the recruitment of these structures results in impulsive aggression or not reflects the functional roles of ventromedial frontal cortex and dorsomedial frontal and anterior insula cortex in response selection. It is also argued that impulsive aggression may occur because of impaired decision making. The aggression may not be accompanied by anger, but it will reflect disrupted evaluation of the rewards/benefits of the action.
Topics: Aggression; Brain; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Neurobiology
PubMed: 26465707
DOI: 10.1089/cap.2015.0088 -
Journal of Clinical Child and... 2020The goal of this study is to develop a rational data-driven definition of impulsive/reactive aggression and establish distinctions between impulsive/reactive aggression...
The goal of this study is to develop a rational data-driven definition of impulsive/reactive aggression and establish distinctions between impulsive/reactive aggression and other common childhood problems. This is a secondary analysis of data from Assessing Bipolar: A Community Academic Blend (ABACAB; = 636, ages 5-18), Stanley Medical Research Institute = 392, ages 5-17), and the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms (LAMS; = 679, ages 6-12) studies, which recruited youths seeking outpatient mental health services in academic medical centers and community clinics. Following Jensen et al.'s (2007) procedure, 3 judges independently rated items from several widely used scales in terms of assessing impulsive/reactive aggression. Principal components analyses (PCA) modeled structure of the selected items supplemented by items related to mood symptoms, rule-breaking behavior, and hyperactivity/impulsivity to better define the boundaries between impulsive/reactive aggression and other common childhood symptoms. In the rational item selection process, there was good agreement among the 3 experts who rated items as characterizing impulsive/reactive aggression or not. PCA favored 5 dimension solutions in all 3 samples. Across all samples, PCA resulted in rule-breaking behavior, aggression-impulsive/reactive (AIR), mania, and depression dimensions; there was an additional hyperactive/impulsive dimension in the LAMS sample and a self-harm dimension in ABACAB and Stanley samples. The dimensions demonstrated good internal consistency; criterion validity coefficients also showed consistency across samples. This study is a step toward developing an empirically derived nosology of impulsive aggression/AIR. Findings support the validity of the AIR construct, which can be distinguished from manic and depressive symptoms as well as rule-breaking behavior.
Topics: Adolescent; Aggression; Child; Female; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Male; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 31343896
DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2019.1622121 -
Psychopharmacology Jan 2012Our ability to measure the cognitive components of complex decision-making across species has greatly facilitated our understanding of its neurobiological mechanisms.... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Our ability to measure the cognitive components of complex decision-making across species has greatly facilitated our understanding of its neurobiological mechanisms. One task in particular, reversal learning, has proven valuable in assessing the inhibitory processes that are central to executive control. Reversal learning measures the ability to actively suppress reward-related responding and to disengage from ongoing behavior, phenomena that are biologically and descriptively related to impulsivity and compulsivity. Consequently, reversal learning could index vulnerability for disorders characterized by impulsivity such as proclivity for initial substance abuse as well as the compulsive aspects of dependence.
OBJECTIVE
Though we describe common variants and similar tasks, we pay particular attention to discrimination reversal learning, its supporting neural circuitry, neuropharmacology and genetic determinants. We also review the utility of this task in measuring impulsivity and compulsivity in addictions.
METHODS
We restrict our review to instrumental, reward-related reversal learning studies as they are most germane to addiction.
CONCLUSION
The research reviewed here suggests that discrimination reversal learning may be used as a diagnostic tool for investigating the neural mechanisms that mediate impulsive and compulsive aspects of pathological reward-seeking and -taking behaviors. Two interrelated mechanisms are posited for the neuroadaptations in addiction that often translate to poor reversal learning: frontocorticostriatal circuitry dysregulation and poor dopamine (D2 receptor) modulation of this circuitry. These data suggest new approaches to targeting inhibitory control mechanisms in addictions.
Topics: Behavior, Addictive; Biogenic Monoamines; Brain; Compulsive Behavior; Decision Making; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Inhibition, Psychological; Models, Neurological; Neural Pathways; Reversal Learning
PubMed: 22134477
DOI: 10.1007/s00213-011-2579-7 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Feb 2019Impatience-the failure to wait or tolerate delayed rewards (e.g. food, drug and monetary incentives)-is a common behavioural tendency in humans. However, when rigidly... (Review)
Review
Impatience-the failure to wait or tolerate delayed rewards (e.g. food, drug and monetary incentives)-is a common behavioural tendency in humans. However, when rigidly and rapidly expressed with limited regard for future, often negative consequences, impatient or impulsive actions underlie and confer susceptibility for such diverse brain disorders as drug addiction, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and major depressive disorder. Consequently, 'waiting' impulsivity has emerged as a candidate endophenotype to inform translational research on underlying neurobiological mechanisms and biomarker discovery for many of the so-called impulse-control disorders. Indeed, as reviewed in this article, this research enterprise has revealed a number of unexpected targets and mechanisms for intervention. However, in the context of drug addiction, impulsive decisions that maximize short-term gains (e.g. acute drug consumption) over longer-term punishment (e.g. unemployment, homelessness, personal harm) defines one aspect of impulsivity, which may or may not be related to rapid, unrestrained actions over shorter timescales. We discuss the relevance of this distinction in impulsivity subtypes for drug addiction with reference to translational research in humans and other animals. This article is part of the theme issue 'Risk taking and impulsive behaviour: fundamental discoveries, theoretical perspectives and clinical implications'.
Topics: Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Punishment; Reward; Substance-Related Disorders; Translational Research, Biomedical
PubMed: 30966923
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0145 -
Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology &... Mar 2021Impulse control deficits are often found to co-occur with substance use disorders (SUDs). On the one hand, it is well known that chronic intake of drugs of abuse... (Review)
Review
Impulse control deficits are often found to co-occur with substance use disorders (SUDs). On the one hand, it is well known that chronic intake of drugs of abuse remodels the brain with significant consequences for a range of cognitive behaviors. On the other hand, individual variation in impulse control may contribute to differences in susceptibility to SUDs. Both of these relationships have been described, thus leading to a "chicken or the egg" debate which remains to be fully resolved. Does impulsivity precede drug use or does it manifest as a function of problematic drug usage? The link between impulsivity and SUDs has been most strongly established for cocaine and alcohol use disorders using both preclinical models and clinical data. Much less is known about the potential link between impulsivity and cannabis use disorder (CUD) or the directionality of this relationship. The initiation of cannabis use occurs most often during adolescence prior to the brain's maturation, which is recognized as a critical period of development. The long-term effects of chronic cannabis use on the brain and behavior have started to be explored. In this review we will summarize these observations, especially as they pertain to the relationship between impulsivity and CUD, from both a psychological and biological perspective. We will discuss impulsivity as a multi-dimensional construct and attempt to reconcile the results obtained across modalities. Finally, we will discuss possible avenues for future research with emerging longitudinal data.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Cannabis; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Marijuana Abuse; Marijuana Use; Positron-Emission Tomography; Self-Control
PubMed: 32795592
DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110066