Thomas Van Leeuwen and Frederick Verbruggen receive ERC Consolidator Grant

Two out of 329 prestigious grants are awared to Ghent University: Thomas Van Leeuwen and Frederick Verbruggen each receive about 2 million euro to strive for a breakthrough which will be very important to both science and society. Control of impulsive action. Have you ever wondered how humans regulate their behaviour? How you can suppress impulses and resist temptations' For centuries, these questions have occupied writers, philosophers and scientists. Nowadays, psychologists attribute goal-directed behaviour to a prefrontal executive system that overrides impulsive actions. Impulse control (or a lack of it) has been linked to health outcomes, school and job success, and personal finances. The idea that people have voluntary control over their impulses and urges also permeates our current socio-economic and legal systems. Yet many fundamental questions about impulse control remain unanswered.