Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl. 23, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2011 May;122(5):907-15. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2010.09.012. Epub 2010 Oct 8.
The aim of the present study was to explore the neurophysiologic origins of gender differences in auditory processing mechanisms of 7-10 year-old children by means of event-related oscillations. It was tested if the developmental changes in synchronization and magnitude of oscillations in different processing conditions depended on gender.
Eighteen girls and 18 boys aged 7-10 years were pair wise matched for age and were divided into two age groups. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in passive, sensorimotor and working memory conditions. Phase-locking and single-trial magnitude of ERPs were analyzed in the delta (0.5-4 Hz), theta (4-7 Hz), slow (7-10 Hz), and fast (10-14 Hz) alpha frequency bands to test the effects of gender, age, and processing condition.
The phase-locking of auditory delta, theta, and slow alpha oscillations increased with development only in girls, independently of task processing. Only for the theta phase-locking was this effect additionally affected by the motor-related task. No changes in the magnitude of oscillations accompanied these gender differences in synchronization except for parietal delta responses that also increased with development only in girls.
The results demonstrate that gender differences in auditory ERPs basically originate from a stronger functional synchronization of oscillatory responses generated during stimulus processing.
The study provides evidence that the functional maturation of oscillatory auditory networks reflected by a progressive developmental increase of synchronization, is accelerated in girls relative to boys between 7 and 10 years of age.
本研究旨在通过事件相关振荡来探索 7-10 岁儿童听觉加工机制中性别差异的神经生理起源。研究测试了不同处理条件下的振荡同步和幅度的发育变化是否取决于性别。
18 名 7-10 岁的女孩和 18 名男孩按年龄配对，并分为两个年龄组。在被动、感觉运动和工作记忆条件下记录听觉事件相关电位（ERP）。在 delta（0.5-4 Hz）、theta（4-7 Hz）、慢（7-10 Hz）和快（10-14 Hz）alpha 频带中分析 ERP 的锁相和单试幅度，以测试性别、年龄和处理条件的影响。
听觉 delta、theta 和慢 alpha 振荡的锁相仅在女孩中随发育而增加，与任务处理无关。只有 theta 锁相受到与运动相关任务的影响。除了仅在女孩中随发育而增加的顶叶 delta 反应外，振荡幅度的变化没有伴随这些同步的性别差异。
结果表明，听觉 ERP 中的性别差异主要源于刺激处理过程中产生的振荡反应的功能同步增强。
该研究提供了证据表明，以同步性逐渐发育增加为特征的振荡听觉网络的功能成熟在 7 至 10 岁的女孩中比男孩更快。
