When desire collides with reason: functional interactions between anteroventral prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens underlie the human ability to resist impulsive desires

Human decisions are guided by „desire“ or „reason", which control actions oriented towards either proximal or long-term goals. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess how the human brain mediates the balance between proximal reward desiring and long-term goals, when actions promoting a superordinate goal preclude exploitation of an immediately available reward option. Consistent with the view that the reward system interacts with prefrontal circuits during action control, we found that behaviour favouring the long-term goal, but counteracting immediate reward desiring, relied on a reciprocal functional coupling of anteroventral prefrontal cortex (avPFC) with nucleus accumbens (Nacc) and ventral tegmental area. The degree of functional interaction between avPFC and Nacc further predicted behavioural success during pursuit of the distal goal, when confronted with a proximal reward option, and scaled with interindividual differences in trait impulsivity. These findings reveal how the human brain accomplishes voluntary action control guided by „reason", suggesting inhibitory avPFC influences on Nacc activity during actions requiring a restraint of immediate „desires". The new experimental paradigm used here may provide a valuable tool to investigate the neuropathophysiology of different types of impulse control disorders and addiction.