B - 73 Neurocognitive Correlates of Impulsivity: Lack of Perseverance Is Associated with Poorer Cognitive Control

Abstract Objective This study investigated associations between cognitive control, specifically proactive and reactive control, and impulsivity. Impulsivity is linked to low cognitive control and has been associated with substance use, self-harm, and dementia. Studies suggest that impulsivity is linked to poorer reactive and proactive control, but the unique facet of impulsivity implicated in this link has not been established. This study aimed to understand how impulsivity subdomains are related to both proactive and reactive control during a continuous performance task. Methods To examine the full spectrum of impulsivity, a premorbid risk-factor, a total of 251 healthy undergraduates were included in the study (106 male, 143 female, and 2 another gender; mean age = 19.51, SD = 2.76). Thirty-seven were excluded due to missing data. Participants completed the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation-seeking, Positive-urgency (UPPS-P) Scale and the AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT) for course credit. Results Lack of perseverance was correlated with longer reaction times on proactive control, r = 0.143, p = 0.023, and reactive control trials, r = 0.180, p = 0.004. Lack of perseverance was also found to be a unique and significant predictor of proactive control reaction time, controlling for the other four facets of impulsivity (β = 0.152, p = 0.049). Conclusions We found a positive relationship between lack of perseverance and both proactive and reactive cognitive control, indicating that lower perseverance is linked to poorer cognitive control. Impulsivity is a multi-faceted risk-factor that has also been linked to symptoms of dementia and general disinhibition. These findings contribute to the growing literature on how higher impulsivity increases vulnerability to cognitive control deficits.