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Exercising self-control increases relative left frontal cortical activation.

Brandon J Schmeichel1, Adrienne Crowell2, Eddie Harmon-Jones3

  • 1Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA and bjschmeichel@gmail.com.

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
|September 6, 2015
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Summary

Exercising self-control boosts approach motivation, indicated by brain activity. This finding may explain ego depletion effects after self-control tasks.

Keywords:
approach motivationego depletionfrontal asymmetryrelative left frontal cortical activityself-control

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Self-control is the ability to override response tendencies.
  • Understanding the neural underpinnings of self-control is crucial for explaining its effects, such as ego depletion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation.
  • To examine the neural correlates of this effect using electroencephalography (EEG).

Main Methods:

  • Participants performed a self-control task or a control task.
  • EEG activity was recorded while participants viewed positive, negative, and neutral images.
  • Trait levels of behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity were assessed.

Main Results:

  • Exercising self-control led to increased relative left frontal cortical activity during picture viewing.
  • This effect was more pronounced in individuals with higher BAS than BIS sensitivity.
  • The increase in frontal activity was observed during viewing of both positive and negative images, but stronger for positive ones.

Conclusions:

  • Exercising self-control temporarily enhances approach motivation.
  • This heightened motivation, reflected in prefrontal cortex activity, may contribute to ego depletion.