Despite an increasing number of studies examining GABRA6 associations on impulsive behaviors (including externalizing behavior and substance use), the function of these variants are still not well understood. It is likely that these genetic variations are at least in part responsible for individual differences in GABA concentrations in key brain regions associated with impulsivity. One study using magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrated that variations in GABAergic neurotransmission in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were associated with individual differences in self-control (Boy et al., 2011). Although the exact mechanism through which differences in DLPFC GABA concentrations influence self-control remains to be articulated, the authors posit that high concentrations in the DLPFC can lead to more robust adaptive coding of goals, which in turn would increase the effective integration of salient motivational information with task goals, thus promoting adaptive behaviors such as self-control (Boy et al., 2011). It will be important for future work to systematically examine neurobiological mechanisms accounting for the relation between GABRA6 variants and individual differences in behavioral control.
