How is our I-Function related to Impulsive Behavior? :: Impulses Neurology Papers

How is our I-Function related to Impulsive Behavior? What are impulses? We experience impulses every day. Why are you wearing your orange shirt today? Why did you pick a salad for dinner instead of steak? Why did you drive one route to work as opposed to another? I suppose some people are more spontaneous than others, but can impulses be called sporadic? Uncontrolled? Are they valid choices you have made - or are impulses something we do not realize we are powerless to? Can we choose to say certain things? Do we have any choices? Who, or what rather, is in control? Some people have impulses that are not conducive to the decorum of society. Some people cannot explain their need, their impulse, to shout obscenities, to make strange faces at strangers, or to excessively mimic others around them. Tourette's Syndrome is one example of a disorder that causes a person to be overwhelmed by impulses to say and do things that they cannot control. Do impulses have varying degrees? And can some people more efficiently control these impulses, or channel the impulsive thoughts into something other than actions? Is our behavior conducive to the ability to monitor numerous impulses of all degrees? And I wonder what role I-function plays in behavior, if behavior is explained in terms of controlled impulses. I wrote my last paper on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and the implications that this disorder has on our understanding of the I-function. OCD patients are overwhelmed by the impulse to do certain actions or rituals that calm their fears. These fears might be of germs, heights, strangers, or something less common. OCD sufferers are treated by attempts to help the patients teach themselves to overcome their impulses that relieve their unfounded fears. The question that arises is how the OCD sufferer can be aware of their unrealistic and unprecedented fears, but cannot control their impulsive behavior? We are not conscious of the blind spot when our brain 'fills in' the empty area created by the blind spot, and thus have no control over our blind spot. However, OCD patients are aware of their brain's autonomous control over their behavior that causes obscure actions and thoughts that are typical of OCD patients. The I-function is not involved in the blind spot, but is it or is it not involved in OCD behaviors? How can the OCD patient be aware of what is going on, but not be able to control himself?