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Updated: Aug 20, 2026
Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats
Published on: March 17, 2019
Laboratory measured behavioral impulsivity relates to suicide attempt history
Donald M Dougherty1, Charles W Mathias, Dawn M Marsh
1Neuro-behavioral Research Laboratory and Clinic, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA. ddougher@wfubmc.edu
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between laboratory behavioral measured impulsivity (using the Immediate and Delayed Memory Tasks) and suicidal attempt histories. Three groups of adults were recruited, those with either: no previous suicide attempts (Control, n = 20), only a single suicide attempt (Single, n = 20), or multiple suicidal attempts (Multiple, n = 10). As hypothesized, impulsive responses increased with the number of suicide attempts (Control < Single < Multiple). This study helps to demonstrate how laboratory behavioral measures of impulsivity can be used to discriminate groups based on suicidal histories among samples not currently exhibiting significant suicidal behaviors.