What is Impulsivity?

Despite the traditional definition of impulsivity, which consists of behaviors or actions without foresight, a more detailed description of the phenomena has surfaced. There are two categories when it comes to impulsive behavior; impulsive action and impulsive choice.

Impulsive action is defined as the ability to withhold a motor response, by either stopping or simply withholding[2]. This subcategory of impulsivity can be observed among a spectrum of psychiatric disorders. It is prevalent among eating disorders and ADHD, for example. A person’s inability to otherwise control a number of food intake results in poor impulsive action, leading to binge eating and consequently to what we call eating disorder. The same applies to ADHD patients. The difficulty to remain still, silent, and attentive at appropriate times further supplements the role of impulsive action among a range of disorders.

Impulsive choice on the other hand, is defined as a process by which motivational forces affect the choosing of rewards based on quantity, time delay, and effort[2]. Thus choosing a reward that is small, quick and least effortful, points towards impulsive behavior. This subcategory can be observed in cases such as addiction. The repetitive behavior witnesses in addiction, of all sorts, illustrates how small yet immediate rewards will always satisfy a person suffering from the mental disorder. An addictive gambler realizes the potential to lose money in the long run, yet he or she still gambles because the immediate reward, however small, is still satisfactory. Nevertheless, given the complexity of impulsivity and its role in mental illness, research has turned towards investigating possible ways to measure these factors in the lab

The significance of these two sub-categories is illustrated by the behavioral tests used to evaluate them. Impulsive action and impulsive choice are processes governed by different neuronal regions, which affect how research can produce impulsive behavioral models in mice[3]. The subcategories allow researchers to investigate different patterns along with several psychiatric disorders, which can allow for better therapeutic outcomes. Hence it is necessary that pre-clinical experiments test and measure both these categories to the fullest extent.