# Battling Delayed vs. Instant Gratification: Freud was right?



## David Baxter PhD (Oct 19, 2004)

Battling Delayed vs. Instant Gratification
Thursday, October 14, 2004 
By Jennifer Warner, WebMD Medical News

*Your Brain May Be at War Over Instant Gratification and Long-Term Goals*

Torn between the instant gratification of eating the chocolate in front of you and looking good at your beach vacation next month? A new study shows that if it feels like opposing parts of your brain are battling each other, they probably are.

Researchers found two different areas of the brain appear to be involved in balancing short-term versus long-term rewards. One part deals with instant gratification and the other holds out for a bigger payoff in the long run. 

"We have different neural systems that evolved to solve different types of problems, and our behavior is dictated by the competition or cooperation between them," says researcher Jonathan Cohen of Princeton' University's Center for the Study of Brain Mind and Behavior, in a news release.

*Balancing Instant Gratification vs. Long-term Rewards*
In the study, published in the Oct. 15 issue of _Science_, researchers compared the brain activity of 14 college students who were asked to consider delayed reward problems while undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scan.

The students were offered choices between gift certificates ranging from $5 to $40 in value, but larger amounts could only be obtained by waiting from two to six weeks.

The imaging showed that decisions involving the potential for instant gratification activated parts of the brain closely associated with regulating emotion. 

But when students chose the delayed reward option, researchers found the regions of the brain involved in logic and reasoning were more highly activated than the emotional regions, although both regions were involved in making the decision.

"Our emotional brain has a hard time imagining the future, even though our logical brain clearly sees the future consequences of our current actions," says researcher David Laibson of Princeton University, in the release. "Our emotional brain wants to max out the credit card, order dessert, and smoke a cigarette. Our logical brain knows we should save for retirement, go for a jog, and quit smoking.

"To understand why we feel internally conflicted, it will help to know how myopic and forward-looking brain systems value rewards and how these systems talk to one another," says Laibson.

Researchers say the results may also help explain instant gratification behavior, such as drug addiction.

SOURCES: McClure, S. _Science_, Oct. 15, 2004; vol 306: pp 503-507. News release, Princeton University.


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## dmcgill (Nov 6, 2004)

Wouldn't it be nice if these researchers could develop a medication that would slow down the emotional portion of our brain and make the logic part work harder.  This would help patients with FASD and more generally, a lot of us who choose to reward the emotion rather than "think it through".  
When counseling, I can always draw out the consequences for persons making a decision but far too often, they still choose the instant fix, self medication etc.  Very interesting study David.


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## Ash (Nov 9, 2004)

I really relate to this.  I have a horrible time trying to look ahead.  I've made a huge step in the past few months where I *have* been planning for the future.  But it's still a daily struggle for me.


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## dmcgill (Nov 9, 2004)

Remember,  One day at a time and sometimes it can only be moment to moment but look back only to see where you have been and keep looking forward step by step.


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## lauriecolson (Jan 23, 2005)

*anorexia and delay*

i wonder  if anorexics have an over active or dysfunctional part of the brain that delays.


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