The habit of putting everything off until tomorrow appears at a young age
Procrastination is often considered to be banal laziness or lack of willpower, but scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggest taking a deeper look at the problem. The tendency to delay things to the last is not just a bad habit, but a consequence of the features of the brain structure that are formed at a young age. Experts analyzed MRI scans and the genetics of dozens of twin pairs to understand why some people do everything on time, while others live on an eternal deadline. A publication in the journal Molecular Psychiatry proves that the roots of this problem go back to biology and heredity. It turned out that chronic procrastination is often associated with developmental disorders in certain areas of the brain and disruptions in the work of neurotransmitters. The discovery moves procrastination from the category of behavioral deficiencies to the category of mild brain disorders that require a completely different approach to treatment.
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.
Published
January, 2026
Category
Science
Duration of reading
1-2 minutes
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Source
Scientific Journal Molecular Psychiatry. Article: Shared neurogenetic architecture links adolescent neurodevelopmental deviations to adult psychopathological procrastination
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