Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Self-Regulation01:25

Self-Regulation

Self-regulation, also known as self-control, encompasses a range of cognitive and behavioral processes that allow individuals to adjust their internal states and outward actions to align with socially acceptable norms and long-term goals. It plays a fundamental role in adaptive functioning, from resisting impulsive behaviors to persisting through challenging tasks. While its benefits are widely recognized, self-regulation is not limitless. Muraven and Baumeister's theory posits that...
Reason and Intuition01:37

Reason and Intuition

The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the brain can only use...
Decision Making01:20

Decision Making

Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
Timing and Consequences on Behavior01:08

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

In operant conditioning, the timing of reinforcement is crucial. For animals like rats and cats, immediate reinforcement (within a few seconds) is much more effective than delayed reinforcement. For example, a food reward for a rat needs to follow within 30 seconds of pressing a bar to be effective. 
Humans, however, can respond to delayed reinforcers. We often make decisions between immediate small rewards and delayed larger rewards. This ability to delay gratification is a significant factor...
Decision Making: Traditional Method01:14

Decision Making: Traditional Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the traditional method includes calculating the critical value, testing the value of the test statistic using the sample data, and interpreting these values.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...
Decision Making: P-value Method01:09

Decision Making: P-value Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the P-value method includes calculating the P- value using the sample data and interpreting it.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim  is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses:  a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Institutional dynamics produce resource curse traps.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Making Decisions in Context in Post-9/11 Veterans with Comorbid Chronic Blast Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Military medicine·2026
Same author

Environmental decision neuroscience connects the brain to climate action.

Nature reviews. Neuroscience·2026
Same author

Slow-wave sleep in the TPJ is linked to individual differences in implicit bias.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

Disentangling the multifaceted nature of certainty in evaluations.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2025
Same author

Intertemporal Pavlovian biases and links with mental health in the general population.

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience·2025
Same journal

Neural timescales from a computational perspective.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Author Correction: Spinal cord Tau pathology induces tactile deficits and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease via dysregulation of CCK neurons.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Hippocampal theta sweeps indicate goal direction during navigation.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Just how goal-directed are hippocampal theta sweeps, anyway?

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Goal-directed hippocampal theta sweeps during memory-guided navigation.

Nature neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Connectomic evidence that ordered activity drives neuromuscular network formation.

Nature neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
08:24

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: August 25, 2023

Lateral prefrontal cortex and self-control in intertemporal choice.

Bernd Figner1, Daria Knoch, Eric J Johnson

  • 1Center for Decision Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA. bf2151@columbia.edu

Nature Neuroscience
|March 30, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Disrupting the left lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) led to more immediate reward choices. This suggests the LPFC plays a key role in self-control for intertemporal decisions.

More Related Videos

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
07:07

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Published on: June 5, 2016

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance
13:20

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance

Published on: December 5, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 14, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
08:24

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: August 25, 2023

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
07:07

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Published on: June 5, 2016

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance
13:20

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance

Published on: December 5, 2025

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Decision Science

Background:

  • Intertemporal choice involves selecting between immediate and delayed rewards.
  • Self-control is crucial for making choices that favor long-term benefits over immediate gratification.
  • The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is implicated in executive functions, including decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the causal role of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) in self-control during intertemporal choice.
  • To determine if disrupting LPFC function affects preferences for immediate versus delayed rewards.

Main Methods:

  • Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was used to temporarily disrupt the function of the left and right LPFC.
  • Participants made choices between immediate and larger delayed rewards.
  • Valuation judgments for immediate and delayed rewards were assessed.

Main Results:

  • Disruption of the left LPFC, but not the right, significantly increased the preference for immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards.
  • rTMS did not alter choices solely involving delayed rewards.
  • Valuation judgments of immediate and delayed rewards remained unchanged after rTMS.

Conclusions:

  • Provides causal evidence for a left lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC)-based neural mechanism underlying self-control in intertemporal choice.
  • Highlights the specific role of the LPFC in resisting immediate gratification for future gains.