ArticleNature communications2022
A neuro-computational account of procrastination behavior.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Modulating task-outcome value to mitigate real-world procrastination via noninvasive brain stimulation.eLife · 2026Trial
- Complementary and opponent value signals in the human brain support choosing the best and avoiding the worst.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Shared neurogenetic architecture links adolescent neurodevelopmental deviations to adult psychopathological procrastination.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Temporal dynamics of effort discounting: The roles of cognitive load and depression.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Lower metacognitive abilities predict procrastination: a cross-sectional study of a healthy adult sample.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- The relationship between physical exercise and sleep procrastination in college students: the chain mediating role of self-control and time management tendencies.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Behavioral barriers in the management of spinal muscular atrophy: The role of procrastination, regret, and burnout.PloS one · 2026Article
- A network analysis of academic procrastination, psychological and environmental factors among medical students.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- A neurometabolic mechanism involving dmPFC/dACC lactate in physical effort-based decision-making.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Temporal discounting predicts procrastination in the real world.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Debates on the dorsomedial prefrontal/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex: insights for future research.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2023Review
- Article
- Economic and social values in the brain: evidence from lesions to the human ventromedial prefrontal cortex.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Humans procrastinate despite being aware of potential adverse consequences. Yet, the neuro-computational mechanisms underlying procrastination remain poorly understood. Here, we use fMRI during intertemporal choice to inform a computational model that predicts procrastination behavior in independent tests. Procrastination is assessed in the laboratory as the preference for performing an effortful task on the next day as opposed to immediately, and at home as the delay taken in returning completed administrative forms. These procrastination behaviors are respectively modeled as unitary and repeated decisions to postpone a task until the next time step, based on a net expected value that integrates reward and effort attributes, both discounted with delay. The key feature that is associated with procrastination behavior across individuals (both in-lab and at-home) is the extent to which the expected effort cost (signaled by the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex) is attenuated by the delay before task completion. Thus, procrastination might stem from a cognitive bias that would make doing a task later (compared to now) appear as much less effortful but not much less rewarding.
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