Adolescent Gender Differences in Cognitive Control Performance and Functional Connectivity Between Default Mode and
Gabriela Alarcón1, Jennifer H Pfeifer2, Damien A Fair3,4,5
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
|May 10, 2018
Summary
Girls exhibit heightened default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network (FPN) connectivity during cognitive tasks, linked to increased errors. Co-rumination, not connectivity, explains performance deficits in adolescent girls, suggesting a pathway to depression vulnerability.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Ineffective functional connectivity between the default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal network (FPN) during cognitive control impacts performance and is observed in psychiatric disorders like depression.
- Understanding these neural mechanisms in adolescents is crucial for identifying early risk factors for mental health conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate gender differences in task-regressed functional connectivity between the DMN and FPN in adolescents during a conflict between self-referential processing (SRP) and cognitive control.
- To explore the mediating role of co-rumination in performance deficits observed during this cognitive conflict.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine task-regressed functional connectivity in 40 healthy adolescents (20 boys, 20 girls).
- A novel task was designed to create conflict between DMN-supported SRP and FPN-supported cognitive control.
- Self-reported co-rumination levels were assessed and analyzed for their mediating effect on performance.
Main Results:
- Girls demonstrated stronger DMN-FPN functional connectivity during cognitive control within the SRP context compared to boys.
- Girls made more errors of omission during this task context.
- Gender differences in errors of omission were mediated by higher self-reported co-rumination in girls.
Conclusions:
- Conflict between internal (DMN) and external (FPN) attentional demands results in persistent DMN-FPN connectivity in adolescent girls, but not boys.
- Co-rumination, rather than neural connectivity, explained performance deficits, with higher co-rumination linked to greater errors.
- Gender differences in attentional processing and co-rumination may contribute to the heightened vulnerability of adolescent girls to depression.
Keywords:
adolescenceco-ruminationcognitive controldefault mode networkfronto-parietal networkfunctional magnetic resonance imaginggender differencesself-referential processingMore Related Videos
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