Part of the brain determines self-control

LEIPZIG, Germany, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- German researchers have found the area of the brain responsible for self-control -- the capacity to withhold an action prepared for but reconsidered.

The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, showed the area of the brain where the decision to not do something after thinking about doing it occurs. This area is separate from the area of the brain associated with taking action.

The findings broaden understanding of the neural basis for decision making, or free will, and may help explain why some individuals are impulsive while others are reluctant to act, said lead author Marcel Brass, of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany.

Brass and Patrick Haggard, of University College London, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of participants.

Brass and Haggard found that deciding to veto yielded activity in the dorsal fronto-median cortex, an area on the midline of the brain directly above the eyes, which didn't show up when participants followed through and made the action.