Neurophysiological markers of multiple facets of impulsivity

• Greater relative baseline left frontal activity (LFA) is related to multiple facets of impulsivity.
• Urgency, independent of affective valence, is related to LFA.
• Conscientiousness-related impulsive traits are related to LFA.
• The relationship between impulsivity and LFA is not due to approach motivation.

Human behavior is influenced by three core personality systems: approach, avoidance, and supervisory control. The supervisory control system is inversely related to impulsivity. Although past research has related some aspects of impulsivity to frontal hemispheric asymmetry, impulsivity as a multi-faceted construct has not been studied in relation with frontal asymmetry. In addition, past work has potentially confounded impulsivity with approach-motivation. In the current study, greater relative left frontal activity was related to multiple facets of impulsivity: negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and positive urgency. Regressing both positive and negative urgency on frontal asymmetry revealed that approach-related positive urgency related to greater left frontal activity, but withdrawal-related negative urgency marginally related to greater right frontal activity. These results suggest that impulsivity, independent of affective valence, relates to greater left frontal activity. When controlling for trait approach motivation, the relationship between impulsivity and left frontal activity is unchanged.