The key culprit turned out to be the nucleus accumbens, an area of the brain responsible for pleasure, motivation, and reward systems. The researchers noticed that teenagers who developed this area with abnormalities turned into avid procrastinators eight years later. The genetic predisposition to this phenomenon turned out to be quite high — almost 50 percent. The problem is not limited to just one area. People who tend to postpone life for later have malfunctions in the work of dopamine and serotonin receptors. These substances are responsible for our ability to feel satisfied with what we have done and maintain a good mood. When the system breaks down, the brain simply does not receive the necessary reward for the task performed, which causes motivation to do something to drop to zero. An even more surprising fact was the connection of procrastination with the work of the immune system. Analysis of gene expression has shown that fans of procrastinating have signs of neuroinflammation and problems with the transport of molecules inside the nervous tissue. This means that their brains may be in a state of permanent biological stress. The authors of the study, Yuanyuan Hu and Yancheng Tang, emphasize that the severe form of procrastination is not a whim of character, but a real condition with deep neurobiological roots. Understanding this fact will help to create new diagnostic methods in the future. Doctors will be able to identify teenagers at risk in advance and help them adjust their behavior before the habit of procrastination destroys their adult life and career.