Individual differences in resting-state functional connectivity predict procrastination

Procrastination is to voluntarily delay an intended course of action and is considered an archetypal human failing. A popular hypothesis is that procrastination is representative of self-regulatory failure. Although there is extensive behavioral evidence consistent with the predictions of this theory, there is no neural evidence for it. To test directly the extent to which individual differences in trait procrastination can be related to resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between brain regions implicated in self-regulation, we applied resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) in a group of 77 healthy participants. RSFC 1) between ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), 2) between dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and caudate, and 3) within ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), negatively predicted the severity of procrastination. These results provide direct evidence for the validity of self-regulatory failure account of procrastination, and implicate that trait procrastination is reflected in the intrinsic functional dynamics of neural systems associated with impulse control, performance monitoring, and behavioral inhibition.