Can we have a second helping? A preregistered direct replication study on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying self-control

Christin Scholz, Hang-Yee Chan, Russell A Poldrack, Denise T D de Ridder, Ale Smidts, Laura Nynke van der Laan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Self-control is of vital importance for human wellbeing. Hare et al. (2009) were among the first to provide empirical evidence on the neural correlates of self-control. This seminal study profoundly impacted theory and empirical work across multiple fields. To solidify the empirical evidence supporting self-control theory, we conducted a preregistered replication of this work. Further, we tested the robustness of the findings across analytic strategies. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while rating 50 food items on healthiness and tastiness and making choices about food consumption. We closely replicated the original analysis pipeline and supplemented it with additional exploratory analyses to follow-up on unexpected findings and to test the sensitivity of results to key analytical choices. Our replication data provide support for the notion that decisions are associated with a value signal in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which integrates relevant choice attributes to inform a final decision. We found that vmPFC activity was correlated with goal values regardless of the amount of self-control and it correlated with both taste and health in self-controllers but only taste in non-self-controllers. We did not find strong support for the hypothesized role of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in self-control. The absence of statistically significant group differences in dlPFC activity during successful self-control in our sample contrasts with the notion that dlPFC involvement is required in order to effectively integrate longer-term goals into subjective value judgments. Exploratory analyses highlight the sensitivity of results (in terms of effect size) to the analytical strategy, for instance, concerning the approach to region-of-interest analysis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4995-5016
Number of pages22
JournalHuman Brain Mapping
Volume43
Issue number16
Early online date2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2022

Keywords

  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods
  • Prefrontal Cortex/Diagnostic imaging
  • Self-Control
  • Taste
  • System
  • Replication
  • Activation
  • Value Computation
  • Stimulation
  • Decision-making
  • Self-control
  • Subjective Value
  • Metaanalysis
  • VMPFC
  • DlPFC
  • Functional Connectivity
  • FMRI

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