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Cited by 253Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesDecision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity

Open access
van den Bos, Wouter, Rodriguez, Christian A., Schweitzer, Julie B., McClure, Samuel M.·2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1423095112PMC PMC4517266
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Abstract

Significance: Compared with children and adults, teens and young adults often exhibit greater impulsivity and corresponding increases in emergency room visits, accidents from drug or alcohol use, and increased mortality risk. However, it remains poorly understood how increased impulsivity during adolescence may be explained in terms of brain and cognitive development. We focused on impatience, a central component of impulsiveness. We relate impatient behavior on a decision-making task to changes in connectivity within the brain’s frontostriatal circuitry. Our results suggest that relative future orientation, not sensitivity to immediate rewards, determines adolescent impatience. These findings may help to design interventions to prevent the detrimental effects of adolescent impulsiveness and serve as a template for understanding neurodevelopmental disorders.

Verified 2026-10-07 · 1 reference not checked yet

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In a cross-sectional multimodal MRI study of 50 participants aged 8–25, adolescents were more impatient on an intertemporal choice task and reported less future orientation, but not more present hedonism, than young adults. Stronger right dorsolateral prefrontal–medial striatal structural connectivity was associated with greater negative functional coupling during larger-later choices and lower discount rates, suggesting increased control and future-oriented thought drive age-related reductions in impatience.

Key findings

  • Discount rates declined with age across 8–25 y (linear: r = 0.46, P < 0.001; asymptotic: r = 0.48, P < 0.001), best described by an asymptotic trajectory with accelerated decline in early adolescence. Future orientation increased with age (linear: r = 0.42, P < 0.005; asymptotic: r = 0.44, P < 0.004), while present hedonism showed no age-related change (all P > 0.45). Future orientation correlated with more patient choices (r = −0.42, P < 0.005); present hedonism did not (r = 0.22, P = 0.17), though it did when controlling for age (r = 0.29, P < 0.05).
  • Right medial striatum–right dlPFC tract strength was negatively correlated with log k (r = −0.47, P < 0.001); similar trends were found for right vlPFC (r = −0.48, P = 0.007) and left vlPFC (r = −0.37, P = 0.049). Amygdala tract strength was not initially associated with discounting (r = 0.26, P < 0.11) but was positively correlated with discount rates when controlling for age (r = 0.65, P < 0.001).
  • Right dlPFC showed increased negative coupling with medial striatum during decision versus baseline (t(47) = −7.321, P < 0.001), and this negative coupling was greater for larger-later versus smaller-sooner choices (t(47) = 6.63, P < 0.001). The functional connectivity difference correlated with structural connectivity (r = 0.42, P < 0.004) and discount rates (r = 0.41, P < 0.005). A serial mediation model supported an indirect path from age through structural and functional connectivity with right dlPFC to discounting (95% CI 0.05, 0.22).
  • Specificity analyses: stop-signal reaction time decreased with age (linear: r = 0.55, P < 0.001; asymptotic: r = 0.58, P < 0.001), was not related to delay discounting (r = 0.25, P = 0.23), and correlated with right IFG–striatum tract strength (r = −0.31, P = 0.045) but not right dlPFC–striatum structural or functional connectivity (r = −0.15, P = 0.33; r = 0.06, P = 0.66).

Methods

  • Fifty participants (26 females), ages 8–25 y (M = 16.76, SD = 4.55), completed a delay-discounting task with 130 intertemporal choices in and outside the scanner, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Index (present hedonism and future orientation), a stop-signal task, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices, and pubertal status on a subset.
  • DTI probabilistic tractography used striatal seed masks and 10 a priori target regions; striatal voxels were classified by highest connection probability, and tract strength was correlated with log k. fMRI during delay discounting was analyzed with PPI using functionally defined right dlPFC/right vlPFC ROIs and structurally defined striatal segments.
  • Analyses used robust linear regressions testing linear, adolescent-peak, and asymptotic age trends; Bayesian model comparison; a Bonferroni-corrected threshold of P < 4.545 × 10⁻³ for 11 tracts; and serial mediation via Hayes’ PROCESS.

Limitations

  • Stated: the authors found no support for immediate-reward sensitivity driving adolescent impatience and note this may be due to the low affective content of the stimuli; they suggest social or emotional contexts may reveal reward-sensitivity effects.
  • Stated: probabilistic tractography and PPI cannot resolve the direction of connectivity, so the top-down control interpretation needs further testing, for example with dynamic causal modeling. Impulsivity is multidimensional, and intertemporal choice taps mainly impatience; more tasks and a wider age range are needed.
  • Evident from the text: the cross-sectional design and mediation analysis cannot establish causal developmental direction; the modest sample (n = 50) and pubertal data available only in a subset further limit power and generalizability.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1423095112

Cites

98 of 99 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

0 of 47 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data
    § Results · p. 4

    Participants with greater future orientation made more patient choices on the intertemporal choice task.

    “we found that those participants who showed increased future orientation also made more patient choices in the intertemporal choice task ( r = -0.42, P &lt; 0.005; Fig. 1 E ).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Choices follow a hyperbolic discount function.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The choice function assumes each individual chooses the option with the highest subjective value with highest probability.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The inverse temperature parameter represents response noise.
  • Findingown data
    § Results · p. 4

    Present hedonism was significantly related to discounting when age was controlled.

    “we found that there was a significant relationship between individual differences in present hedonism and discounting when controlling for age ( r = 0.29, P &lt; 0.05).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Choices follow a hyperbolic discount function.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The choice function assumes each individual chooses the option with the highest subjective value with highest probability.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The inverse temperature parameter represents response noise.
  • Findingown data
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Delay discount rates decreased with age across adolescence in the sample.

    “We report that adolescents were more impatient on an intertemporal choice task”
    • Also stated in: § Results · p. 4 · plain
      “there was a decline in impatience across adolescence among our subjects.”
    • Also stated in: § Results · p. 3 · hedged
      “Discount rates estimated from the delay-discounting task were smaller with age across adolescence.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Choices follow a hyperbolic discount function.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The choice function assumes each individual chooses the option with the highest subjective value with highest probability.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The inverse temperature parameter represents response noise.
  • Findingown data
    § Results · p. 5

    The right medial striatum region overlapped with the striatal segment identified in structural analyses to be connected with the dlPFC.

    “the right medial striatum region overlapped with the striatal segment that we identified in the structural analyses to be connected with the dlPFC.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data
    § Results · p. 4

    An asymptotic developmental trajectory with accelerated decline in impulsive choices in early adolescence best described changes in discount rates with age.

    “Bayesian model comparisons indicated that an asymptotic developmental trajectory with an accelerated decline in impulsive choices in early adolescence provided the best description of changes in discount rates with age (Table S1).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Choices follow a hyperbolic discount function.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The choice function assumes each individual chooses the option with the highest subjective value with highest probability.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The inverse temperature parameter represents response noise.
  • May combine two claims. 15
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 26

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data
    § Results · p. 5

    A linear age-related increase best described the data for all tracts except the right vlPFC, which was best fit by the asymptotic trend.

    “a linear age-related increase best described the data for all of the tracts except for the right vlPFC, which was best fit by the asymptotic trend.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data
    § Results · p. 6

    Stop-signal reaction time decreased with age, both in a linear and in an asymptotic model.

    “Consistent with previous findings, we found that SSRT decreased with age (linear: r = 0.55, P &lt; 0.001; asymptotic: r = 0.58, P &lt; 0.001; Fig. S2).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data
    § Results · p. 5

    Age-related changes were found in right medial striatum, left medial striatum, and left temporoparietal junction.

    “showed age-related changes in right medial striatum (MNI: 12, 2, 8), left medial striatum (MNI: -13, 17, 8), and left temporoparietal junction (MNI: -55, -42, 23; Fig. 4 B ).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Findingown data
    § Structural Connectivity Analyses. · p. 9

    The tract strength measure was not normally distributed.

    “tract strength values are nonnormally distributed, so nonparametric correlations are most appropriate”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Delay discounting rates decline with age.

    “Numerous studies have shown that rates of delay discounting measured in these tasks decline with age”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Impulsivity is multidimensional and includes at least three separate components: acting without thinking, impatience, and sensation or novelty seeking.

    “Impulsivity can be broken down into at least three independent components: acting without thinking, impatience, and sensation/novelty seeking (6, 8, 9).”
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    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Explicitly instructed future orientation increases activity in the brain's executive control network.

    “( ii ) increased activity in the brain ' s executive control network (30).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
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    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Striatal activity is higher when participants see immediate rewards than when they see preference-matched delayed rewards.

    “Luo et al. (23) showed that striatal activity is greater when participants are presented with immediate rewards versus preference-matched delayed rewards.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Luo et al. (23)

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    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    More patient behavior may come from control processes that shift attention away from immediate rewards or emphasize future goals.

    “more patient behavior may result from control processes that bias attention away from immediate rewards and/or emphasize the importance of future goals (24, 25).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
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    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Individual differences in future orientation are associated with more patient choices.

    “individual differences in future orientation are associated with more patient choices (1, 21, 26).”
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    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Delay discounting recruits corticostriatal circuitry.

    “Neuroimaging studies have consistently shown that delay discounting recruits corticostriatal circuitry (19).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [19] source

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    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    More impatient behavior can result from oversensitivity to immediate rewards.

    “more impatient behavior can result from oversensitivity to immediate rewards (21).”
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    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    People are more impatient when an immediate option is available than when both options are delayed.

    “people are more impatient when an immediate option is present compared with when both options are in the future (22).”
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    Premisecitation
    § Results · p. 4

    Control is specifically necessary for consideration of prospective future outcomes.

    “Control is believed to be specifically necessary for consideration of prospective future outcomes (29)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [29] source

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    Premisecitation
    § Significance · p. 3

    In adults, frontostriatal tracts predict lower delay discounting, while subcorticostriatal tracts predict higher delay discounting.

    “we recently showed that frontostriatal tracts predicted decreased delay discounting, whereas subcorticostriatal tracts predicted increased delay discounting in adults (21).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [21] source

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    Premisecitation
    § Results · p. 5

    These results are consistent with a recent large-scale study showing that adolescents valued the same objective monetary rewards more than adults, but this did not explain their increased impatient behavior.

    “Together, these results are consistent with a recent large-scale study on adolescent discounting (49), which showed that, although the adolescents valued the same objective monetary rewards more than adults, this did not explain their increased impatient behavior on the intertemporal choice task.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data
    § Results · p. 5

    DICE values for all striatal segments were high and satisfactory (between 0.32 and 0.59), except for SMA and PCC (DICE < 0.05).

    “The DICE values obtained for all striatal segments were high and satisfactory (between 0.32 and 0.59), except for the supplementary motor area (SMA) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) (DICE &lt; 0.05; Table S2).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation
    § Adolescent impatience decreases with increased frontostriatal connectivity · p. 2

    Striatal circuits are divided into a ventral valuation network and a dorsal control network.

    “striatal circuits are divided into two networks: a ventral valuation network that is involved in representing the incentive value of the different options, and a dorsal control network that is involved in maintaining future goals and inhibiting prepotent responses (18, 24).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
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  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data
    § Significance · p. 2

    Relative future orientation, not sensitivity to immediate rewards, determines adolescent impatience.

    “Our results suggest that relative future orientation, not sensitivity to immediate rewards, determines adolescent impatience.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Choices follow a hyperbolic discount function.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The choice function assumes each individual chooses the option with the highest subjective value with highest probability.
    • The authors state this as an assumption: The inverse temperature parameter represents response noise.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data
    § Results · p. 6

    The mediation analysis supports a pathway in which age-related increase in dlPFC-medial striatum tract integrity leads to increased negative functional coupling between dlPFC and medial striatum during larger, later versus smaller, sooner choices, which in turn leads to less impulsive decision making.

    “As such, the mediation analysis supports the hypotheses that an increase in dlPFC -medial striatum tract integrity with age leads to increased negative functional coupling between dlPFC and the medial striatum during LL versus SS choices, which finally leads to less impulsive decision making.”
    • Also stated in: § Discussion · p. 7 · hedged
      “That is, our data suggest that there is an increase in white matter connectivity strength with age, which in turn allows for increased efficiency in the inhibitory interaction between right dlPFC and striatum, potentially underlying the observed reduction of impatience with age.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The serial mediation model's causal ordering from age through structural connectivity and functional connectivity to discounting is valid.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation
    § Significance · p. 3

    Neurodevelopmental models propose that an early-developing valuation system and a later-maturing cognitive control system explain increased adolescent impulsivity.

    “Neurodevelopmental models hypothesize that the different rates of maturation of the valuation and control networks account for increased impulsivity in adolescence. These models propose that there is a relatively early developing valuation system during adolescence, followed by a more slowly maturing cognitive control system (32, 33).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites [32] source

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    • cites [33] source

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    Study design and conductown data
    § Behavioral Measures and Self-Report. · p. 9

    Pubertal status data from a subset of participants showed no significant relations to task behavior or neural measures.

    “We collected data on pubertal status on a subset of our participants, but these did not reveal any significant relations to task behavior or neural measures (see SI Materials and Methods for more details).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductown data
    § MR Data Acquisition and Preprocessing. · p. 9

    Age was uncorrelated with the count of interpolated volumes (r = 0.02, P = 0.89).

    “There was no correlation between age and number of interpolated volumes ( r = 0.02, P = 0.89; Fig. S3)”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data
    § Discussion · p. 7

    Specificity analyses suggest that the right dlPFC tract is associated with goal-oriented valuation, whereas the IFG tract is involved in inhibiting prepotent responses based on external cues.

    “That is, our specificity analyses suggest that the right dlPFC tract is associated with goal-oriented valuation, whereas the IFG tract is involved in inhibiting prepotent responses (based on external cues).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationcitation
    § Discussion · p. 7

    There may be an age-related increase in the specificity of the different striatal tracts.

    “In line with the interactive specialization account of neurodevelopment (69), this suggests that there may be an age-related increase in the specificity of the different striatal tracts.”
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    Study design and conductown data
    § Behavioral Measures and Self-Report. · p. 9

    There were no correlations between IQ and log k.

    “Second, we found that there were also no correlations between IQ and log k ( r = 23, P = 0.46).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation
    § MR Data Acquisition and Preprocessing. · p. 9

    Motion is known to cause problems for connectivity analyses.

    “Given the known problems of motion for connectivity analyses (90), we used ArtRepair software to correct for excessive movement (91).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [90] Power JD, Barnes KA, Snyder AZ, Schlaggar BL, Petersen SE (2012) Spurious but systematic correlations in functional connectivity MRI networks arise from subject motion. Neuroimage 59(3):2142 -2154. source

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  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Discussion · p. 7

    This striatal organization allows for at least a tripartite functional division and introduces a role for context-dependent modulation of more basic inhibitory and affect-related processes.

    “This organizational structure allows for at least a tripartite functional division and introduces a role for context-dependent modulation of the more basic inhibitory and affect-related processes.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data
    § Results · p. 6

    The structural development of the right dlPFC striatal tract is specifically related to delay discounting, or impatience, but not to motor inhibition.

    “In sum, these analyses suggest that the structural development of the right dlPFC striatal tract is specifically related to the processes involved in delay discounting (impatience) but not motor inhibition.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductown data
    § Structural Connectivity Analyses. · p. 9

    The tractography maps were judged successful and acceptable for analysis by visual inspection.

    “Visual inspection ensured that tractography maps were successful and acceptable for further analysis.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductown data
    § Behavioral Measures and Self-Report. · p. 8

    Adding the inverse temperature function as a covariate of no interest did not change any of the reported results.

    “Adding the inverse temperature function as a covariate of no interest to our regression models did not change any of the reported results.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given
    § Discussion · p. 7

    Probabilistic tractography and psychophysiological interaction analysis cannot resolve the direction of connectivity.

    “Of course, both probabilistic tractography and PPI are in principle unable to resolve the direction of connectivity.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductown data
    § Structural Connectivity Analyses. · p. 9

    No participants were excluded because of excessive head motion in the diffusion data (threshold 1 voxel/TR).

    “None of the participants had to be rejected (threshold for movement was 1 voxel/TR).”
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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductown data
    § Behavioral Measures and Self-Report. · p. 9

    There was no relationship between age and IQ.

    “First, we established that there was no relationship between age and IQ ( r = 0.16, P = 0.72).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductown data
    § MR Data Acquisition and Preprocessing. · p. 9

    In this sample, the number of interpolated volumes per subject did not exceed eight.

    “No more than eight (median, 0; mean, 1.1) of the volumes were interpolated within any subject.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning
    § Structural Connectivity Analyses. · p. 9

    Dual-fiber models account for crossing fibers and therefore produce more reliable results than single-fiber models.

    “Dual-fiber models account for crossing fibers and thus yield more reliable results compared with single-fiber models.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation
    § Discussion · p. 7

    The dorsolateral striatum is predominantly connected to sensorimotor-related regions, the ventromedial part receives visceral-related afferents, and intermediate striatal areas receive higher-order associational information.

    “The dorsolateral striatum predominantly connected to sensorimotor-related regions, the ventromedial part collects visceralrelated afferents, and striatal areas lying between these extremes receive higher order ' associational ' information.”
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    Study design and conductcitation
    § Behavioral Measures and Self-Report. · p. 8

    All regressions involving the discount rate were robust to account for possible outliers.

    “To take into account the effect of possible outliers, all regressions with the discount rate were robust [using the robustbase package in R (76)].”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [76] Todorov V, Filzmoser P (2009) An object-oriented framework for robust multivariate analysis. J Stat Softw 32(3):1 -47. source

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38 of 38

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Choices follow a hyperbolic discount function.

    “assuming a hyperbolic discount function”

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The choice function assumes each individual chooses the option with the highest subjective value with highest probability.

    “The choice function assumed that each individual will choose the option with the highest subjective value (which in many cases could be SS choice) with highest probability.”

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    The inverse temperature parameter represents response noise.

    “The inverse temperature is a free parameter in the choice model that represents response noise.”

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Developmental changes in structural connectivity indicate the functional effectiveness of axonal connections.

    “it can be assumed that developmental changes in structural connectivity provide information about the functional effectiveness of axonal connections.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Age-related differences observed cross-sectionally in connectivity and behavior reflect developmental change over adolescence.

    “Process model linking age related differences in brain structure, function, and behavior.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The serial mediation model's causal ordering from age through structural connectivity and functional connectivity to discounting is valid.

    “We generated a serial mediator model that tries to capture the relation between age and discounting with two sequential mediators: structural and functional connectivity with the right dlPFC (Fig. 5).”
6 of 6

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In van den Bos et al. (2015), choices to delay gratification were associated with greater self-reported future orientation and increased engagement of frontoparietal control circuitry, but not with variation in self-reported hedonism.

    “choices to delay gratification in the decision task were associated with greater self-reported future orientation and increased engagement of frontoparietal control circuitry, but not with variation in self reported hedonism.”

    From The dual systems model: Review, reappraisal, and reaffirmation (2016) · cites this paper as van den Bos et al., 2015

    The Results (pp. 4–5) link more patient choices to greater self-reported future orientation and report greater prefrontal and parietal activation for larger, later choices. Present hedonism was not significantly associated with discount rates in the unadjusted analysis, but it was significantly associated after controlling for age (Results, p. 4). The unqualified claim that choices were not associated with variation in hedonism therefore overstates the finding. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Recent connectivity analyses have demonstrated that increases in control behaviors across adolescence are associated with an increase in connectivity between striatal and prefrontal regions.

    “Recent connectivity analyses have demonstrated that increases in control behaviors across adolescence are associated with an increase in connectivity between striatal and prefrontal regions (van den Bos et al., 2015, van Duijvenvoorde et al., 2015a, Vink et al., 2014).”

    From The dual systems model: Review, reappraisal, and reaffirmation (2016) · cites this paper as van den Bos et al., 2015

  • In van den Bos et al. (2015), improvements in frontostriatal connectivity mediated the link between age and willingness to wait for a larger reward.

    “improvements in frontostriatal connectivity mediated the link between age and willingness to wait for a larger reward.”

    From The dual systems model: Review, reappraisal, and reaffirmation (2016) · cites this paper as van den Bos et al., 2015

Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • Consistentt(47) = -0.92reported p = .83 · recomputed p = .362

    “t (47) = -0.92, p = .83”

    The paper states a correction for multiple tests

1 of 1

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Left and right vlPFC correlations are reversed in Table 1

    Minor

    The text assigns r = -0.48 to the right vlPFC and r = -0.37 to the left, whereas Table 1 assigns those values to the left and right, respectively.

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Authors
van den Bos, W., Rodriguez, C. A., Schweitzer, J. B., & McClure, S. M.
Affiliations
  • Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14197 Berlin, Germany;
  • Stanford University (US)
  • University of California, Davis (US)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2015-06-22
Volume
112
Issue
29
Pages
E3765-74
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1423095112
PMC
PMC4517266
OpenAlex
W2107416685
Semantic Scholar
8c1c73da008d86d2fd95cb97e2a8340ebb7497c2
Cited by
253
References
99
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 59 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 5
FWCI
22.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • U.S. Public Health Service (R01 091068)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH091068)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
impatience, impulsivity, adolescence, frontostriatal connectivity, intertemporal choice, discounting, striatum, future orientation, developmental changes, structural connectivity, functional connectivity
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Child, Choice Behavior, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Neural Pathways, Reward, Task Performance and Analysis, Neostriatum, Young Adult, Diffusion Tensor Imaging

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-07.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-07.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

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