Study Reveals Brain Biology Behind Self-Control

Eleven-year-olds Alaney Ocasio, left, and Nirisi Lopez give in to their impulse to eat marshmallows after a mini-lesson on self-control at the KIPP Academy Middle School in New York City.

—Emile Wamsteker for Education Week

By Sarah D. Sparks

A new neuroscience twist on a classic psychology study offers some clues to what makes one student able to buckle down for hours of homework before a test while his classmates party.

The study , published in this month’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science , suggests environmental cues may “hijack” the brain’s mechanisms of self-control in some people and some circumstances.

The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that a student’s ability to delay gratification can be as important to academic success as his or her intelligence—and that educators may soon know...