Chunk #24 — Neurocognitive and Brain Functional Response Systems and Their Operational Relationships to the Undercontrol/Disinhibition Developmental Pathway
This second construct is very similar to that proposed as reactive control by Eisenberg and colleagues (e.g., Eisenberg & Morris, 2002). It involves suppression of ongoing behavior prompted by signals in the environment rather than by goals in working memory. The neural process is presumed to be subcortical signaling of novelty or potential threat (e.g., from the nucleus accumbens or amygdala), interrupting programs operating in prefrontal cortex. Therefore it is heuristically seen as a “bottom-up” process in brain. When this process fails, undercontrolled behavior occurs and the individual goes forward with the behavior despite a signal of potential problems (see Heitzeg, Nigg, Yau, Zubieta, & Zucker, 2008). Undercontrol may also occur due to overfunctioning of excitement or approach in limbic regions. Although bottom-up, the behavior would functionally appear the same as failure of the top-down system (i.e., failure to modulate excitement for the sake of goals or other less salient contextual demands).
