Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats
Published on: March 17, 2019
A translational behavioral model of mood-based impulsivity: Implications for substance abuse
Cassandra D Gipson1, Joshua S Beckmann, Zack W Adams
1Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. gipson@musc.edu
Background:
Laboratory tasks that measure various facets of impulsivity derived from self-report questionnaires are important for elucidating the behavioral consequences of impulsivity in humans and for back-translating these facets to non-human species. Negative urgency, or mood-based rash action, is a self-report facet of impulsivity linked to problem substance use; however, a valid behavioral task is lacking.
Methods:
The current studies were designed to bridge self-report questionnaire and behavioral measures of negative urgency in humans and to determine if this could be back-translated to rats.
Results:
Humans scoring high in negative urgency showed greater behavioral responding and increased frustration following unexpected reward omission on a monetary-based task compared to subjects low in negative urgency. Rats also showed elevated responding for either sucrose pellets or intravenous amphetamine following unexpected reward omission.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that impulsive behavior engendered by unexpected reward omission may represent a valid behavioral model of negative urgency linked to substance abuse.
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