生物谷报道：最近一期《神经学杂志》载文称，英国伦敦学院大学和比利时甘特大学的神经学家们发现，大脑中存在一个特定区域，决定并控制人们各不相同的行为。
研究发现，当人开始想“我不能做此事”时，大脑的前中部表层区域表现活跃。科学家认为，这一大脑的网状部分控制和限制人们想要做出的行为。此项研究的负责人之一帕特里克.哈格德教授说，“许多人承认有这样一种‘内部的声音’阻止人们在愤怒时做某件事，我们的研究确定了促使人们对其行为再三思考的过程。”
帕特里克.哈格德教授认为，大脑的这种功能对社会而言有重要意义，这种延迟某种行为的能力，可以避免出于“自私”、“冲动”或“眼前的意愿”而做出某种举动。
研究人员通过磁共振，在数名志愿者身上观察到原打算采取某种行为，但在最后一刻就继续下去还是停止行动作出决定的志愿者的大脑的活动。观察发现，大脑前中部表层一个很小的区域，只有在人们原打算采取某种行为而后又阻止这种行为时表现活跃；而当人们打算采取某种行为并且事实上最终采取了这种行为时，大脑的这一区域的活跃性相差很多。
研究还揭示，那些大脑的这一区域活跃性高的人，更倾向于再三考虑自己的行为，而那些这一区域不够活跃的人倾向于采取行动，甚至在被要求不要采取行动时，仍不改初衷。
帕特里克.哈格德教授认为，这可能就是为什么有的人表现冲动，有的人显得克制的原因。他指出，在一个复杂的社会中，遏制冲动是十分必要的。（科技日报）
原始出处:
The Journal of Neuroscience, August 22, 2007, 27(34):9141-9145; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0924-07.2007
Brief Communications
To Do or Not to Do: The Neural Signature of Self-Control
Marcel Brass1,2 and Patrick Haggard3
1Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany, 2Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium, and 3Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Marcel Brass, Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Gent, Belgium. Email: marcel.brass@ugent.be
Voluntary action is fundamental to human existence. Recent research suggests that volition involves a specific network of brain activity, centered on the fronto-median cortex. An important but neglected aspect of intentional action involves the decision whether to act or not. This decision process is crucial in daily life because it allows us to form intentions without necessarily implementing them. In the present study, we investigate the neural correlates of intentionally inhibiting actions using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Our data show that a specific area of the fronto-median cortex is more strongly activated when people prepare manual actions but then intentionally cancel them, compared with when they prepare and then complete the same actions. Our results suggest that the human brain network for intentional action includes a control structure for self-initiated inhibition or withholding of intended actions. The mental control of action has an enduring scientific interest, linked to the philosophical concept of "free will." Our results identify a candidate brain area that reflects the crucial decision to do or not to do.
Key words: intentional processing; response inhibition; cognitive control; prefrontal cortex; fMRI; anterior insula
