When faced with a conflict or dilemma, we tend to postpone or even avoid making a decision. This phenomenon is known as decisional procrastination. Here, we investigated the neural correlates of this phenomenon, in particular the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) that has previously been identified in procrastination studies. In this study, we applied an individual difference approach to evaluate participants’ spontaneous neural activity in the PHG and their decisional procrastination levels, assessed outside the fMRI scanner. We discovered that the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in the caudal PHG (cPHG) could predict participants’ level of decisional procrastination, as measured by the avoidant decision-making style. Importantly, participants’ self-esteem mediated the relationship between the cPHG and decisional procrastination, suggesting that individuals with higher levels of spontaneous activity in the cPHG are likely to have higher levels of self-esteem and thus be more likely to make decisions on time. In short, our study broadens the PHG’s known role in procrastination by demonstrating its link with decisional procrastination and the mediating influence of self-esteem, underscoring the need for further exploration of this mediation mechanism.

中文翻译：

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自尊介导静息状态下海马旁回与决策拖延之间的关系

当面临冲突或困境时，我们倾向于推迟甚至避免做出决定。这种现象被称为决策拖延。在这里，我们研究了这种现象的神经相关性，特别是先前在拖延研究中发现的海马旁回（PHG）。在这项研究中，我们采用个体差异方法来评估参与者在 PHG 中的自发神经活动及其决策拖延水平，并在功能磁共振成像扫描仪之外进行评估。我们发现，尾部 PHG (cPHG) 低频波动的分数幅度 (fALFF) 可以预测参与者的决策拖延程度，这是通过回避决策风格来衡量的。重要的是，参与者的自尊调节了 cPHG 和决策拖延之间的关系，这表明 cPHG 自发活动水平较高的个体可能具有较高的自尊水平，因此更有可能按时做出决定。简而言之，我们的研究通过证明 PHG 与决策性拖延和自尊的中介影响之间的联系，扩大了 PHG 在拖延中的已知作用，强调了进一步探索这种中介机制的必要性。