White matter correlates of impulsive behavior in healthy individuals: A
diffusion MRI study
Abstract
Background: Impulsivity is closely related to the tendency to engage in
risky behaviors. Previous research identified macrostructural brain
alterations in individuals exhibiting impulsive behaviors. Understanding
the microstructural brain changes linked to impulsivity can elucidate
its underlying mechanisms and guide effective treatment strategies. In
this study, we employed diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (DMRI)
connectometry to investigate white matter tracts associated with
impulsivity while considering potential sex differences. Methods: We
enrolled 218 healthy participants from the Leipzig Study for
Mind-Body-Emotion Interactions (LEMON) database. Correlations between
DMRI-derived white matter changes and impulsivity were assessed using
scores from the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale’s four subscales (lack of
perseverance (PE), lack of premeditation (PM), sensation seeking (SS),
and negative urgency (NU)). Results: Our findings revealed negative
correlations between quantitative anisotropy (QA) values in bilateral
cerebellum, middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP), and the severity of PE and
PM across the cohort. Additionally, QA values within MCP, corpus
callosum (CC) body, and forceps major exhibited negative correlations
with SS. Conversely, QA values in forceps minor were positively
correlated with PM, and QA values in both the forceps minor and
bilateral cingulum showed positive correlations with SS. Remarkably, the
observed correlations between UPPS subscale scores and QA value
alterations within white matter tracts varied between males and females.
Conclusions: Impulsivity is correlated with discernible alterations in
white matter integrity across diverse tracts, including CC, cerebellum,
and cingulum. Moreover, males and females show distinct patterns of
correlations between white matter integrity and impulsivity.