If you make impulsive choices you should blame your parents -- it's genetic

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/acon-iym120615.php

Public Release: 8-Dec-2015
If you make impulsive choices you should blame your parents -- it's genetic
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology

'Delay discounting' is the tendency, given the choice, to take a smaller reward that is available immediately, instead of a larger reward that will be delivered in the future. According to a report presented today at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting in Hollywood, Florida, delay discounting is strongly influenced by our genetic makeup. That is, it is a trait that can be inherited.

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In a study of 602 twins, Dr. Andrey Anokhin and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine found that delay discounting gradually improves as teens get older, such that 18 year-olds have a greater ability or tendency to wait for the larger delayed reward, as compared to younger teens. Apart from age, genes accounted for about half of the difference among individuals in their level of delay discounting. Many genes are likely to influence delay discounting; and some of Dr. Ahokhin's preliminary data suggest that these 'impulsivity genes' may include genes coding for enzymes that synthesize the neurotransmitter serotonin and receptors where serotonin binds in the brain.

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