Core components of emotional impulsivity: A mouse-cursor tracking study

Abstract

Impulsive individuals exhibit abnormal reward processing (heightened preference for immediate rewards, i.e., impulsive choice, IC) and a penchant for maladaptive action (the inability to inhibit inappropriate actions, i.e., impulsive action, IA). Both impulsive choice and impulsive action are strongly influenced by emotions (emotional impulsivity); yet how emotions impact impulsive behavior remains unclear. The traditional theory suggests that emotions primarily exacerbate impulsive action and prompts impulsive choice. The alternative theory states that emotions disrupt attention (attentional impulsivity, AImp) and prompt impulsive choice. However, the empirical evidence supporting these theories is inconsistent—few correlations have been reported between self-report measures of emotional impulsivity and behavioral measures of impulsivity beyond clinical populations. In two studies, we probed the interplay among emotions, impulsive action (IA), attentional impulsivity (AImp), and impulsive choice (IC). We elicited positive and negative emotions using emotional pictures and examined the extent to which elicited emotions altered behavioral indices of impulsivity. Our findings suggest that, in a nonclinical population, emotions accentuate impulsive behavior by disrupting attentional control. In particular, Positive Urgency plays an important role in inhibitory control.