id_787. HOW BRAIN ACTIVITY CHANGES WHEN WE STOP PROCRASTINATING: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED FMRI STUDY OF TREATMENT MECHANISMS IN CBT FOR PROCRASTINATION
Magdalena Pietruch1, Anna Czartoszewska1, Weronika Maria Browarczyk2, Joachim Kowalski3, Jarosław Michałowski2, Marek Wypych1
1 Laboratory of Brain Imaging, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
2 Poznań Laboratory of Affective Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland
3 Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Institute of Psychology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
INTRODUCTION: Procrastination is a common self-regulatory failure characterized by an irrational delay of personally important but aversive tasks, and is often linked to impaired well-being. Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is regarded as the most promising treatment for procrastination, neural mechanisms underlying its effectiveness remain unexplored. Prior fMRI research indicates that highly procrastinating individuals show reduced recruitment of prefrontal control regions – particularly the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) – when performing cognitive tasks in emotionally negative or punitive contexts, possibly reflecting behavioral avoidance and impaired processing of negative consequences. These findings suggest that attenuated activity in prefrontal control regions may underlie chronic procrastination and could serve as a target for interventions.
AIM(S): In this randomized controlled trial, we examined how procrastination treatment affects brain activity using longitudinal task-based fMRI.
METHOD(S): Data were collected from 112 help-seeking, high-procrastinating university students before and after a 5-week group CBT intervention or a wait-list control period. The intervention effectively reduced self-report procrastination (Aitken Procrastination Inventory–Revised) compared to the control group (d = -0.68). During fMRI scanning, participants completed a Go/No-Go task with two conditions: a monetary punishment condition, in which money was deducted for errors or slow responses, and a neutral condition, where no rewards or penalties were applied.
RESULTS: Neuroimaging analyses are currently in progress and results will be presented at the conference.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on prior evidence, we hypothesize that participants who received CBT will show enhanced activation in prefrontal control regions (i.e., ACC, right dlPFC) during the punishment condition, reflecting improved self-regulation and cognitive control in emotionally negative contexts.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT: This research was conducted by the GRAPPA consortium (General Research Assessing Psychotherapy for Procrastination Applications) and funded by the Polish National Science Centre grant 2021/43/B/HS6/02024 awarded to MW, JMM and JK.