Spontaneous activity in the vACC mediates the relationship between present fatalistic time perspective and procrastination

Procrastination is a detrimental behavior linked to a broad spectrum of negative life outcomes, such as impaired educational and occupational performance, and compromised physical and mental health. Despite prior research has indicated that individuals with an elevated present fatalistic time perspective (PFTP) exhibit increased procrastination, the neural basis underlying such association still remains unexplored. To address this issue, participants from two large independent samples (N₁ = 479, N₂ = 445) were recruited to undergo resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and complete questionnaires measuring PFTP and procrastination. Behavioral results from both samples indicated that PFTP was consistently positively correlated with procrastination. Whole-brain correlation analysis in Sample 1 revealed that PFTP was associated with reduced amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in the left ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC). Notably, ALFF in the left vACC in Sample 2 was found to mediate the association between PFTP and procrastination. The present study provides the first considerable evidence that decreased spontaneous activity in the vACC, a region implicated in emotion regulation, serves as a neural substrate mediating the association between PFTP and procrastination, thus offering insights into the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship.