Kevin M. Beaver, John Paul Wright and Matt Delisi (2007), 'Self-control as an Executive Function: Reformulating Gottfredson and Hirschi's Parental Socialization Thesis', Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34, pp. 1345-61

With the advancement of neuroimaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and positron emission tomography (PET), neuroscientists have learned a great deal about the workings of the brain and how different pmts of the brain are responsible for different tasks. One of the more significant discoveries-and one that has direct application to the formation of self-control-is the functions and operations of the prefrontal cortex (Convit et al., 1996; Goldberg, 2001; Miller & Cohen, 2001). Anatomically, the prefrontal cortex is located directly behind the forehead in front of the motor and premotor regions of the brain.