Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Developmental trajectories of prefrontal activation underlying emotional inhibitory control from adolescence to young
Tingting Chen1, Lei Jiang2, Rou Wen3
1Faculty of Dance Education, Beijing Dance Academy, Beijing, 100081, P.R. China.
Background:
Understanding the neural maturation of emotional inhibitory control (IC) from adolescence to young adulthood is critical but remains incompletely characterized. The present study examined age-related differences in prefrontal activation during emotional conflict processing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
Methods:
Twenty-six adolescents (ages 13-16, 15 male) and thirty young adults (ages 18-22, 16 male) completed an emotional Flanker task while behavioral responses and prefrontal hemodynamic activity were recorded with fNIRS.
Results:
Both groups exhibited a significant emotional Flanker effect, with slower responses on incongruent than congruent trials. fNIRS results suggested age-related differences in prefrontal recruitment patterns. Adolescents showed relatively stronger O2Hb changes in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), indicating a more right-lateralized response to emotional conflict. In contrast, young adults exhibited a more bilateral pattern of DLPFC activation.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest a developmental shift from relatively focal, right-lateralized prefrontal engagement in adolescence to more distributed bilateral recruitment in young adulthood. Such age-related differences may reflect changes in cognitive strategies alongside ongoing maturation of prefrontal networks, with localized right-sided activation in adolescents supporting behavioral performance through compensatory engagement and bilateral recruitment in young adults reflecting greater network integration and neural efficiency.
